Through The Silvered Glass
by EverReader
Summary: PLEASE TAKE PITY ON MY FIRST FANFIC! Ok. I'm a Candy FanAddict, so this is a rewrite of the show from the begining, But M & M centric. Mostly Canon & CC, but I'm still up in the air about Tess. Really trying to stay true to the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Through The Silvered Glass

Chapter 1: Behind the Green

Maria's POV

Maria smiled to herself as she listened to Liz give her "my grandma photographed an alien" spiel to the two tourists at one of the center tables. She couldn't count how many times she and the other waitresses were asked that question. Liz figured it one summer. Something like a 1.2 ratio per eight-hour shift. Lovable nerd. Granted, the lovable nerd raked in the tips.

Glancing over at the two guys arguing over at one of her window tables, she sighed. It would take more than a photo of a melted plastic baby doll to get a tip out of those two.

As she walked over to check on the two arguing men, the bell over the door chimed a two younger guys walked in. Maria had to bite back a grin a she saw who had walked in. From what she could make out, Max Evans had been in love with Liz for, oh, only about forever. And despite the fact that he dragged in his grumpy friend (Mark? Michael?) at least three times a week since he was old enough to drive, Liz remained oblivious. She watched as they made their way to a booth where Max would have a clear view of Liz. Too Cute. And when it came to cute, his friend (she was pretty sure it was Michael. Michael Guerin?) wasn't too bad looking either. Ignoring his clothes, of course, and his hair, and his attitude…..

Well, time to face the music. She finished walking over to the two men by the windows. As she walked up she caught part of their argument "supposed to pick the money up today" one man was saying in an angry undertone to the other.

"Can I get you any…?" Was all she managed to say before the other guy practically yelled -

"We're FINE"

"OOOkay" she said. They were really starting to make her nervous. Deciding to focus on more enjoyable things she made her way over to where Liz was behind the counter filling napkin holders. Sliding in next to Liz, he gave her best friend a cheeky grin.

"Someone's totally staring at you again, chica" she teased, giggling when Liz flushed.

"Nuh-huh" Liz denied, a grin breaking out over face,

"Should I tell Kyle he has some competition?" Maria offered, watching as Liz's eyes get wider and she shook her head negatively.

At that moment the argument between the two men at the window table escalated sharply in volume. Both men were standing up and leaning into each other, and it looked like any minute now one would start swinging. Shit. The two girls looked at each other with worried eyes. Liz's dad was out to pick up a part for the washer, and Jose, the cook today, was, to quote "a lover, not a fighter", which, from what Maria could tell, meant "total coward".

She met Liz's wide eyes. Liz was brave, if she needed to, she'd go over there, but Maria was a good three inches taller, and looked the older of the two. And it _was _her table, after all.

"Maria" Liz started.

"Nah, I got it. But go grab the phone, just… in case." Liz nodded. She put the napkin holder she was filling down, and started to walk down the counter to where the phone was at the far end.

Maria took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and turned towards the men's table.

Michael's POV

Little blonde must have a death wish, Michael thought to himself as he watched her start towards the two guys getting ready to have a fight in the middle of the restaurant. Growing up in the trailer park had taught Michael how to recognize trouble like that far enough away to avoid it. Idly, Michael tried to figure out just what the girl thought she was gonna be able to do. Of the two waitresses working, she was the taller, but he doubted she weighed a buck ten soaking wet. Why didn't she get the loser cooking behind the counter to deal with it? With his luck St. Max would feel like he needed to come to the rescue. But Max was oblivious to the unfolding drama as he continued to watch Liz from across the room. Following Max's eyes, he saw the brunette girl walking towards the phone.

"We gotta leave, man" he leaned towards Max.

Max looked at him, surprised. "What? Why?"

"Blondie told your lady love to call the cops on the two guys by the window. You know the rule- cops in, Michael out."

What are you…?" Max trailed off, his eyes going wide. Feeling his gut clench, Michael turned to look at the two men as the one facing the counter pulled out a gun and started to wave it around.

He heard the blonde cream out "LIZ!" but even as she did Michael heard the shot ring out as the blonde dropped to the ground.

Michael was half out of his seat before he even realized it. Making his way across the room, he saw the two men make a run for the door. Two tourists were standing between him and the girl on the floor. A few seconds later he reached her. Looking around he realized there wasn't any blood on the floor. Looking at her face, though, he could tell something was really wrong. She had gotten to her knees, and he could hear her gasp, a strangled half cry. With a sinking feeling, he looked up to see Max kneeling over a small form lying in a growing pool of blood.

"Max, what are you…"

He and the girl lunged for the couple at the same time. Michael was afraid he was already too late to stop Max, though, and his thoughts switched over to damage control. Catching the blond girl around her waist, he stopped her from going any closer. He didn't want her to see what his idiot friend was doing. He could feel her shaking.

"Call 911" he snapped.

Her eyes flew to his, and Michael caught a fleeting impression of frightened green before she nodded sharply then whirled and ran for the phone. He could hear her in the back ground, panic in her voice as she told the operation the situation. He leaned over Max, hissing "What are you doing?"

But Michael knew what he was doing, of course. Max had already ripped open Liz's turquoise waitress outfit. Blood had pooled on the girls stomach, dripping down her sides to puddle around her body. Max had started his healing from the inside out, so the bullet hole was still visible, thought the flow of blood had slowed. He stood quickly, turning to see two alien crazed tourists leaning in.

"Oh my god!" The women exclaimed.

"Hey, get back" he yelled with his best "I'm bad news voice". What the hell was Max doing? He was gonna expose all of them. It was Max who instated the rules in the first place. Rules like, don't blow a cover that has been working perfectly well for ten years by using your secret powers to heal your crush of a life-threatening gunshot wound in a crowded alien themed diner full of people. People who had come to Roswell JUST TO LOOK FOR ALIENS!

Even he had managed not to do something that crazy. And crazy was his specialty. Max was cool, logical, follow the rules and everything will be fine Max. Michael thought they had worked out the dynamics of their friendship a long time ago. Michael decided to do crazy things, and Max stopped him. He couldn't be the crazy best friend of a crazy person.

Mentally he walked through the steps Max would be taking-dissolve the bullet, stop the bleeding, and close the wound. HurryHurryHurry-The words were screaming through his brain.

Focus Mickey! He thought to himself, damage control. His eyes alighted on a bottle of ketchup on the counter. Frantically he grabbed it, just as he heard sirens in the distance.

Turning back to Max, he yelled "Keys, NOW!"

As Max handed them over, he shoved the bottle into Max's hand. He met Max's wide eyes before turning to run out the door.

Directly in front of him was Blondie, her green eyes wide in her pale face. Her face showed fear and confusion, and strangely enough, something like…resolution? It was such an unexpected combination that for a bare second, he stopped.

And then she looked right at him. Actually looked at him, a direct, wide, piecing stare he was not expecting.

Michael could count on one hand just how many people in this shit town had ever actually looked at him. People around Roswell thought he was just dumb, worthless, unwanted trailer trash. He wasn't dumb, though. He just didn't care about a world that had never cared about him. And he sure as hell didn't give a damn about Roswell, New Mexico. It wasn't like this place was his home.

Max and Isabelle were his only friends. But Isabelle was a girl, so when it came to just hanging out, Max was his best (ok, only) bet. And due to Max's obsession with Liz Parker, he ate a lot of meals at the Crashdown. Since staring at the same girl as Max would have been creepy, (not to mention pathetic) he had watched the other diners, as well as the other waitresses. So he had seen the lively blonde repeatedly at the diner. She usually worked the same shift as Liz. He had watched her take orders, laughing, chatting up the customers. He had seen her carrying trays loaded with food, dodging other waitresses and patrons. He had heard her loud, dramatic voice as she joked and teased the people around her. He had seen the way she moved at times, as if she was almost dancing as she worked to a song only she was hearing in her head. She was lively, melodramatic and mouthy. In other words, she was nothing special. A dime-a-dozen blonde with a pixie hair cut and a loud mouth. Standard-issue teenage girl.

So he was completely surprised by the look in her eyes. It was as if someone else was living inside her, hidden behind the green. Someone who saw as much as he did. And realizing he had never noticed that before scared the shit outta him. If he had failed to notice that, what else hadn't he noticed? Stuff like that was what got you a one way ticket to a Michael-sized tank of formaldehyde.

From behind him he heard Max reassuring Liz. Then he heard the sound of breaking glass.

If possible, Blondie's eyes got even wider as she heard Max instruct Liz to tell the others it was nothing but spilled ketchup. Their eyes remained locked though, as they stood, squared off, she determined to protect her friend, he, his.

Finally breaking eye contact, he called over his shoulder to Max.

"Now, Max". Pushing past Blondie he drug Max out of the diner, bodily throwing Max into the passenger seat before flinging himself into the driver's seat. They pealed out of the parking lot as the ambulance pulled in. He turned onto the highway, forcing himself to obey the speed limit, forcing himself not to act guilty, not to attract attention.

After all, Max had done enough of that today for all of them.

Maria. Blondie's name was Maria.

Maria's POV

_Max's Voice "You broke a bottle when you fell, spilled ketchup on yourself. Don't say anything, please!"_

_Liz's wide eyed stare as she stood, clutching her dress closed._

_Her seeming confusion as Maria had rushed up to her. When Maria had cried "Omigod, Liz! Liz, are you okay?"_

_And then Liz had started lying. Lying to Maria, to her father, to the police. And because Liz was her best friend, Maria had stood there, going along with it. Even as she watched Liz re-tie her apron to cover the bullet hole in her uniform._

Maria groaned out loud. It was no use. She lay on her back in her darkened room, a few aromatherapy candles lit. The scenes from the diner just kept cycling through her brain like a skipping DVD.

Think, Deluca! She ordered herself to calm down. Now…what would Liz do?

Liz would…, would what? Crap. Liz would call Maria.

She forced herself to breathe in and out, calming herself down. She desperately wanted to call Alex, but it was three in the morning. Besides, she had to put her thoughts through the "Maria Filter" as Alex jokingly called it, or she wouldn't make any sense.

Ok. She closed her eyes, and once again allowed her mental video to play through that afternoon in her mind.

_She had been walking towards the arguing men. She had reacted to the gun almost before she even knew what it was. She had turned to scream at Liz, to warn Liz, even as she dropped to the ground. The shot was so loud, it was the loudest thing Maria had ever heard, perhaps would ever hear._

_Dimly she was aware of a shadow of someone standing over her, not the gunmen; they had run out of the diner even as the echo of the gunshot faded._

_Without even looking up she had turned her body, angling her head to search out Liz, to reassure herself that Liz was also ok. But she had known, deep down, even before she saw the blood, she had felt it, something was wrong, something was bad, something was broken. Liz. Liz was broken and time for Maria had become excruciatingly slow. And the gunshot was still echoing in her head, or was it her heartbeat? Maria couldn't tell and the adrenaline coursing through her body had no effect on the slow motion horror movie her life had just become. She had lunged towards Liz, only to be caught in a pair of strong arms-_

_And suddenly time had returned to normal, like a rubber band snapping into place, and it was too much, too fast. And Liz was still lying there, and this boy, this boy was stopping her from going to Liz. And another boy was leaning over Liz, and her uniform was open, maybe he was trying to stop the bleeding?_

"_Call 911" The boy holding her had snapped, his voice sounding angry. Why was his voice angry? It was her best friend lying there, bleeding to death. But she had already started to follow the command in his voice, taking only the briefest glance upwards before running to the counter where her cell phone sat tucked under the hutch. She had called 911, practically screaming the address into the phone, but it was already too late, she knew it, in her gut she knew it and before she had even finished speaking to the operator she had dropped her cell phone and started back to Liz._

_And then the angry boy was in front of her, blocking her view of Liz, and he didn't understand, why he wouldn't MOVE, didn't he understand that LIZ WAS DYING, Maria knew it, could feel it in her bones, because nothing short of Liz dying could make her feel the way she did now, deep down inside, like she was begging for god to take it back, to take the moment back, to make it better, to do it another way, any other way. But he wouldn't. She knew better. She had learned that long ago. _

_And so nothing mattered but getting to Liz, because Maria knew what it was to be alone when you really, really needed someone who loved you to be there. But the boy was still in her way and so she finally looked at him, really looked at him._

_Michael Guerin was looking back at her, and he WAS furious, but that wasn't what stopped her. _

_Michael Guerin was scared. He was so scared. She didn't know of what. But she knew the look. He was the only person she had ever seen who looked as scared as she felt inside, all the time. He was furious and frightened and seemed like he had decided it was her fault._

_But her best friend was hurt, and she was just as angry, just as scared. And she wasn't backing down either._

_And then the sound of breaking glass. She had listened in disbelief as Max had begged Liz to trust him, to explain to everyone that it was just spilled ketchup. He had told her she was alright now. His voice had sounded shaky, but not as shaky as Liz's voice when she had started to reply. Then the two boys had run past Maria, nearly knocking her off her feet. _

_And she was staring at Liz, and Liz was staring back at her, wide eyed. And Maria was running to her, crying out, and asking if she was okay. She could smell the strong tomato scent of ketchup, not quite covering up the other scent, the salty, tacky, metallic scent of blood drying._

_And then the paramedics were there, and Liz was lying to them, telling them she was fine, that she had broken the bottle when the gun went off. But was it lying? Because Liz was fine, talking, standing, bright eyed. _

_And then the Native American deputy was asking her to describe the gun men, and Maria rambled off the first thing that came to mind, likening them to the Beavis and Butthead cartoon she had been watching last night. And it was true; when the men had first come in she had noted the resemblance. She had even made a joke about it to Liz. Then Liz's father had come in, running to Liz, asking Liz if she were alright. _

_Maria had watched, feeling that small pang she always felt when he saw Liz and her father. Her father wouldn't have had a clue if SHE had been shot down at work. And Liz had started in again, her fairytale story of broken ketchup bottles, and Maria was so confused. She knew what she saw ten minutes ago. And she knew what she saw now. And she knew it wasn't possible._

_But Maria had agreed with Liz's story, nodding along at all the right places. When the alien obsessed tourists had started sticking their noses into things, telling the sheriff Liz had known the two boys at the far booth, Liz had lied again. And then Liz had looked to Maria to back her up. And because it was Liz, who Maria loved more than anything, Liz, who had just died, who was begging her with her eyes to help her, she did. Because it was Liz._

"But she lied." She spoke aloud to the ceiling of her room.

And again in her mind Maria saw Liz retying her apron over the bullet hole in her uniform.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not Mine. *really big sigh*

Okay, so here are the cliff notes: Silver handprints show up whenever alien powers have been used to to significant degree on a living object (Like Liz). Just like photos, they take a little while to develop. Liz probably hadn't had the handprint the last time she looked at her stomach. They last about twenty four hours. No, Alex and Maria are not a couple. I will detail more of their relationship later, but as you will notice, their friendship is very physical. Not sexual, but hugging, holding, leaning on each other, kisses on cheeks, ect., will be evident. Alex's friendship with Liz is also very close, but with much less proximity. In my story, Liz is a good person, and a good friend, but not particularly touchy-feely. Very CANDY, I know. I will at some points use other POV, but I really wanted to lay some groundwork the two main characters. Also, since the show spent a lot of time on Max and Liz, I wanted to focus on what we didn't see, like how Maria found the notepad, and Michael's POV in the desert. And, yes, I have removed the goofy little vials of oil. I sort of love that part of Maria's character on the show, but for the purposes of my story, Maria's "healing arts" will be a bit more low key. Don't worry, though. Grief Relief is just too good to skip. Watch out for it.

Through The Silvered Glass- Chapter 2

The First Emotion

As Michael drove toward the Evans' house, he tried to shake Max out of his daze. Using power like that was always tiring. Max had way more control than Michael, but this was still pushing it. As he'd turned the jeep in the direction of the Evans' home, Max continued to sit there, almost glassy eyed, with fear or shock or exhaustion, Michael couldn't tell which.

"Max." he said, taking his eyes briefly off the road to examine his friend.

No reply.

"Max! Yo! MAXWELL!"

"What?" Max asked, still looking sort of dazed.

"Call Izzy. We gotta make plans" We gotta run, Michael thought to himself. Even if by some miracle Liz did what Max had practically begged her to do, others in the restaurant still knew something was up. Those two alien crazed tourists for one. And the little blond waitress, for another. He just knew that little blond waitress was gonna be a problem. He had seen it in her eyes. She had trouble written all over her.

He heard Max on the phone with Izzy. By the time they pulled up in front of the Evans' home, Max had recovered sufficiently to move over into the driver's seat. As Izzy climbed into the back, Michael slumped over in the passenger's side of the jeep. He was finally coming down off the adrenaline high from the scene at the diner.

Izzy, however, was moving from the first stage, denial, to the second, full blown panic-stricken hysteria. In a pitch that would probably have dogs whimpering.

She started off calmer than Michael had expected. "I can't believe this Max. You know, I finally feel like I have a quasi-normal existence and you go and blow it all with one random act of lunacy."

Then, to Michael "How did you let my misguided brother do this?"

Michael bristled "Hey don't turn this around on me. I'm not the one who thinks he's a freaking super hero."

She was not gonna pin this one on him, oh no. Dealing with the fallout from his own screw ups was one thing, but what Max had done was on a whole new level of bad. Somewhere between Armageddon and a twenty-four hour Three's Company marathon.

Max rubbed his forehead. "Look, I said I was sorry."

At this point, Isabel was starting to lose her cool. "You're sorry? You break a sacred pact and that's all you have to say? It's against the rules Max, the rules we made!"

Max shouted back "You use your powers all the time."

"Recreationally!" She screamed. Michael could tell she was really struggling to collect herself.

"OK" she finally said. "The important thing is, to contain this. We just have to figure out what to say to Miss Scientist."

"And her friend" Michael added.

"Her friend!" Isabel cried.

"Yeah. The Blonde" Michael replied tersely. He scrunched down further in the passenger seat, hoping to get below the sight line.

"WHAT BLONDE!" Isabel screamed again.

"You know, the other one. The one with the green eyes." Maria, he thought to himself.

"Green eyes! My brother is revealing the secret of our existence to a roomful of people AND YOU ARE CHECKING OUT THE WAITRESSES?" Isabel was now in Deathcon 4 mode.

"Maria?" Max finally asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah. She was standing right there, probably saw the whole thing".

"Oh my God, Maria Deluca?" Isabel had starting pulling at her hair. "Maria drama-queen-of-Roswell High-Deluca?" She collapsed back into her seat.

"Omigod. I can't breathe! Can we hyperventilate? I just don't understand this. I'm a good person. I give to charity, I get good grades, I even feed stray animals. What did I ever do to deserve this?" She continued to glare daggers into the back of Max's head.

"I didn't have a choice." Max cried. "It's gonna be okay."

Michael could hear the fear in her voice "Don't you realize that everything has changed!"

"No, it hasn't." Max insisted.

Michael shook his head. The boy had a serious case of denial. "Max, she's right, we're screwed. It's time to leave Roswell." He could feel their eyes on him.

"Michael, we can't just leave." Max was shaking his head.

Michael was grim. "Yea we can. We've always known this day would come. We said when it did, we'd be prepared."

But he knew they weren't. They didn't seriously believe the day would come when their pretend lives would be exposed for the lies they were.

Isabel was almost crying now. "Michael, we can't just leave! Where are we gonna go? Roswell's our home."

Michael didn't even bother to try hiding the anger in his voice. It was time for these two to get a serious wake-up call. "Roswell's not our home. It's not even in our solar system."

Max remained unmoved by Michael's argument. "Well, this is the closest thing we have to home right now."

Michael kicked the dash in frustration. "For you two maybe, it was you the Evans found on the side of the road, not me. They're like real parents to you. My foster dad just keeps me around for the monthly check."

God, why didn't they understand? And why did he even bother to try to explain it anymore? They'd never understand. He doubted anyone ever would.

"This is gonna be OK. We should just lay low. Go back to school and… act normal."

Michael mentally amended his earlier thought. Max didn't just have a serious case of denial, he was king of his own country, and that country was called Denial. Michael was almost in awe of his ability to completely write-off the most dangerous thing that had ever happened to them. Excluding the crash, he assumed.

Isabel wasn't convinced by Max's platitudes either.

"Act normal? That's your big plan Max? Don't you realize it's only a matter of time before they find us and turn us over to some government agency where they're gonna test us and prod us, and, oh yea, EXTERMINATE US!"

As they continued down the highway, Isabel got a CD out of the cd case lying in the back floor board of the jeep. She always used music to tune out the world when it got to be too much. Soon the sound of some wailing teen pop princess filled the jeep.

Another minute of this crap, and Michael would consider turning himself in. After all, once you were dead, you were dead. Even the army didn't use this stuff on prisoners, it was like, covered under some treaty somewhere. He hated that pop shit.

Rubbing his forehead again, Max said "Isabel, could you please not do that?"

"Yea, like listening to a CD is the problem." Izzy snapped back.

"I couldn't just let her die." Max replied.

Michael had tuned both their arguing and Isabel's horrible music out. He needed to figure out a way to convince the Brady twins that it was time to hit the road. Immediately. As in yesterday.

Almost as if his thoughts had jinxed them, the sheriff's car pulled in behind them, flashers on.

"Is he pulling us over?" Isabel cried.

Michael wasn't one to look the obvious in the face. "Max go, let's get outta here." He wanted the hell out of dodge.

But Max was already slowing down to pull over. "We can't start acting guilty."

If guilty equals getting the hell out of Roswell, New Mexico, you better believe we can! Michael thought to himself. What was Max waiting for? Two weeks written notice from the goddamned FBI?

Looking back at him Max said "He always pulls kids over-he does it all the time. It's nothing."

"Yea, nothing." And a weather balloon crashed out here in the desert in 1947, Michael thought sourly.

The officer walked up to the driver's side of the jeep. They all recognized Sheriff Valenti. His eyes coolly surveyed the occupants of the jeep.

"Your license and registration please." The Sheriff said in a calm voice. Both Michael and Isabel had stiffened perceptibly.

"Of course, officer." Max's voice was just as calm. He handed the paperwork over to the Sheriff.

I guess having a major case of denial is good for some things, Michael thought distractedly.

After a moment the Sheriff handed the paperwork back to Max. "Thank you Mr. Evans. We had a little trouble at the Crashdown Cafe yesterday. You kids be careful out there."

Max swallowed. "Yes sir."

Oh, shit, Michael thought, he knows.

The Sheriff gave them all one last, long look, before straightening.

"Watch your speed. Arrive alive."

The three teens all nodded quickly in unison. We look like puppets on a string, Michael thought. Oh, no, nothing suspicious here, Officer.

"We will." The very calmness of Max's voice infuriated Michael. How many more close calls would they have to survive before the other two wised up?

Max went to re-start the jeep, but Michael grabbed the keys out of the ignition, facing the other two and scowling.

Max sighed.

"Michael, everything is gonna be okay."

Michael yelled back "No it won't. Our cover is blown. And I'm not gonna hang around and wait for them to catch us."

Max was so calm it made Michael crazy just to look at him. "No one is caught yet. I mean, we don't even know if there is a ''them''.

Michael could barely keep himself from punching the dash in frustration. "Then what happened to our parents? What happened to everybody else on the ship? They were killed, and you know that."

He couldn't understand why they didn't care. No matter how good their lives with the Evans' were, how could they not share his driving need to KNOW? To know who they were, were they came from. And why the hell they had been left in the desert to die like a litter of unwanted puppies, because either something had happened to their parents-or they had been purposefully left in the desert to die.

Looking directly at Michael, Max said "Liz won't tell anyone, she's different."

Narrowing his eyes at Max, Michael sarcastically replied "Really? So, you think tomorrow you just gonna walk into bio and she's gonna be all 'Great, you're an alien, that's fantastic.'? 'Cause I just bet those tourists at the Crashdown think it's really fantastic, Max. And don't forget Miss Maria "Motor mouth" Deluca."

Max only stared at Michael in silence.

Michael swallowed hard. "Yeah. Didn't think so."

He swung out of the jeep, and faced them.

"I'll leave. Without or with the two of you."

He tossed the keys onto the passenger seat he had just vacated. He stood there, for a moment just looking at Max and Isabel watching him. At some point during his tirade they had reached out to hold each other's hand.

They're always together, and I'm always alone, Michael thought. I'll always be on the outside. He turned to walk off into the desert.

From behind him he could hear Isabel say "Thought I was pissed."

Michael wandered the desert long after it got dark. He was actually trailing the highway on his right, but it was more than a mile over, almost completely out of sight. Michael didn't really need it for reference anyway. He had a naturally strong sense of direction, and the desert was familiar turf to him.

He wasn't exactly in a hurry to get home. Worst case scenario, the tin can he called home was being watched by the army, navy, FBI, and/or a reality TV crew. He shuddered. Nowadays, you couldn't always tell who the bad guys were. Even in the best case scenario, Hank would still be there, mean, mad, drunk and broke. And most likely blaming all of the above on Michael.

Michael knew he should be making plans to get out of Roswell, ASAP. In the jeep, he'd almost managed to convince himself that he'd meant what he'd said, about leaving Roswell with or without Max & Isabel. But when it came down to it, he just didn't have the guts. The last time they'd split, he lost them for more than two years as he'd bounced around the foster care system. He tried not to think about those years. He tried to let them be as much of a blank as the years before were. But seeing Isabel and Max holding hands in the jeep had made him think about it. Made him remember.

_He must have been moving on alien-child auto pilot for a while. When he finally came to something like his senses, he was in a wide open space (or was it a place?). It was dark, and the ground felt gritty beneath his bare feet. He was near a large, tumbled pile of boulders, though, to his mind at that point, they had been nothing more than shadows laid upon shadows. He was afraid, but the fear itself was something new, the way everything was new. Maybe this was how he was always supposed to feel? Heart pounding, hands shaking, chest heaving. _

_Soft sounds behind him had quickly taught him a new emotion, panic. Reacting as instinctively as any desert animal, he had run to the shadows, hiding behind a boulder._

_Out of the darkness came two others. Michael sensed they were like him, but not. They were two, and he was one. But they were like him, and they seemed to be looking for something. Him? Was he supposed to go to them? But they were a pair, and if he joined, they would no longer be two, and Michael sensed that somehow, their being two together was important._

_And so he watched, for the longest time, he did nothing but watch as they stood there, holding hands. The long haired one seemed to be waiting for something, and the short haired one seemed to be looking at him, though he knew he was invisible in the shadows._

_Eventually, he found his third emotion. Courage. Or perhaps recklessness. The line with him would always be thin. He decided to show himself, but on his own terms. Instinctively seeking the high ground, he climbed the next boulder, a taller one, and then stood, waiting for the two to see him. The short haired one saw him almost immediately, and he could see some slight fear in the other's eyes, as well as curiosity, and relief._

_The long haired one glanced over her shoulder at him, catching his eyes long enough to smile. Her eyes had none of the surprise the boy's held, indeed, she looked as if she had been expecting him. She turned again to face forward, as the two boys continued to face each other. Suddenly deafening noise and light broke the nights quiet, and he faded back into the shadows to hide. The other boy seemed as though he would have liked to hide, also, but the girl was unafraid, waiting calmly. She held onto the boy's hand, and he knew the other boy would not leave her. As the lights came closer, the other boy held out his hand to him, his eyes pleading. _

_But his first emotion had been fear; it was his friend before the boy was. He turned and ran into the night._

"Running's what I do best." Michael muttered, to himself, before entering the trailer.

Maria's POV

Maria walked into the Crashdown the next morning feeling like she'd been run over by a truck. Mr. Parker greeted her from behind the counter.

"Hey Maria. You look like you didn't sleep too much last night. Still a little shook up from what happened yesterday?" He asked as he handed her a to go cup of coffee, half of which would be milk, just the way she liked it.

She just stared at him for a moment. _Way_ more than you know buddy. She'd be lying to herself if she said she'd gotten even three hours of sleep.

"Lots of homework." She mumbled. "Is Liz down yet?" She was ready for a long, best friend heart to heart with one Lizzie Parker.

"Oh, I would have thought she'd have called you, Maria" he said, looking surprised. She went ahead and walked to school early. Something about meeting her biology partner"

Which would be-drum roll please! Max Evans, Maria thought to herself. "Yeah, your right, she takes biology pretty seriously." And she is soo avoiding me, Maria thought.

She shrugged "She probably did try to call, and I had just already left. Umm, Speaking of biology, I left my notes in the back, I better go grab them" She hurried into the backroom.

She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she couldn't shake her feelings of unease. She knew something strange had happened yesterday, and Liz avoiding her this morning only reinforced those feelings.

As she looked around, she noticed Liz's locker cracked open. Shaking her head, she went over to shut it. Liz was way too careless of her things sometimes. She started to shut it, but something was shoved into the already full locker, stopping the locker from closing. She sighed. And Liz had the nerve to tease her about her messy locker at school! Opening the locker all the way, she raised her hand, preparing to push everything back in so she could latch it. However, when she saw what was preventing the locker from closing, her hand faltered.

She took a deep breath, and slowly lifted out the order pad. A familiar smell wafted over to Maria, over the scents of bacon and eggs, and she felt dizzy, closing her eyes for just a moment.

She opened her eyes.

The blood hadn't gone away.

"That's not ketchup" she whispered.

She needed to talk to Alex, right now. She shoved the order pad into her jacket pocket. Pushing open the backroom doors, she almost ran into Sheriff Valenti. He appraised her with a cool look.

"Ms. Deluca" He greeted her. "I was hoping to see you. I have a few more questions about what happened here yesterday."

"I have to go to school. I'm, ahh, gonna be late." She blurted out. The order pad in her pocket felt ten pounds heavier than it had a minute ago.

For a few seconds, they just stared at each other. Then, slowly he reached into his pocket. Maria tensed, visions of handcuffs crashing through her mind.

The sheriff handed her a card. She looked down at it. Like she needed a card to tell her how to get to the cop shop, she thought, her heart starting to slow.

"Why don't you come by after school, say, three thirty?" He gave her another long look.

She swallowed and nodded. "Uuuhhh, yeah, sure. OK, three-thirty."

Oh my God, she thought. She'd almost made it to the door when Mr. Parker called out her name.

"Maria!" She looked back at him. He smiled. "You forgot your coffee."

"Thanks" she said weakly. She headed out the door.

Must. Find. Alex.

Maria POV-Later that day.

Maria and Alex both had third period free, followed by lunch, and by that time Maria was almost hysterical.

"Alex" she pleaded "Please, please just listen to me, please" If he thought she wouldn't resort to tears to make her point, he was soo wrong.

"Maria, babe, it's all right here, in black and white". He gestured to the newspaper in front of him. "It says shots were fired, but no one was hurt. Look, I saw Liz last period, and she was fine. Bored, but fine."

Maria sighed. She knew she had to calm down; she had to act like Liz. Granted, Liz wasn't acting like Liz either, so how was she supposed to manage it…

Focus! She scolded herself.

"Alex. Something happened yesterday. I saw it. Liz was, was shot, and Max Evans ran up and _did _something to her. I couldn't see what, that Guerin kid wouldn't let go of me, but-"

"Michael Guerin?" Alex interrupted.

"Yeah. He wouldn't let me anywhere near Liz or Max. And she wasn't moving, and there was all this blood…"

"Maria, calm down. It wasn't blood, it was ketchup. And Max was just checking on her, that isn't really surprising, since he's been in love with her since, like, ever, and Liz probably just hit her head or something, and blacked out for a moment. That's why she was so still. Wait, Michael _Guerin_ grabbed you?"

That's not ketchup on her order pad, Maria thought, staring into Alex's hazel eyes. She couldn't bring herself to say it aloud though. The pad was still in her pocket. She knew it was irrefutable evidence, that it would be all that was needed to convince Alex, but she just couldn't bring herself to show him. She had never intended to actually snoop in Liz's locker, but that was where she had found it, which meant she wouldn't show it to anyone, even Alex, until she had spoken to Liz.

She tried again, "Look, Alex, Liz is totally avoiding me. She walked to school rather than ride with me, in home room, she walked right past her normal seat next to me to go sit with Pam Troy, who she, like, hates and openly admits to hating, she wouldn't answer any of my calls last night, and she was even avoiding Kyle this morning, from what I've heard."

"Well, I avoid Kyle, too." Alex said, trying for a small joke.

"Alex" she sighed.

"Maria, just what do you think Max did, huh? Healed her with some secret alien super hero power?" He leaned in to hug her, leaning his forehead on her shoulder, and she leaned hers on his. "Maria, everything is fine. I promise"

"That's not what the Sheriff thinks" her voice was muffled into Alex's shoulder, but he must have heard her, because he straightened up, a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She looked at him for a moment, and then swallowed. "Alex, everyone in the diner heard that gun go off. Everyone. The police turned the diner upside down trying to find the bullet, or even a bullet hole. There was none. When the Sheriff asked Liz if she knew the two boys in Max & Michael's booth she lied." She paused.

"Alex, when the Sheriff asked me if I knew them, I lied too."

"Why?" he asked softly, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Because she did. Because it was Liz. Alex, the Sheriff is making me come in after school to answer more questions. He knows something's wrong. And Liz is in the middle of it. And now so am I."

Maria had gone to the music room after her conversation with Alex. She'd said she needed to pick up some sheet music for one of her sophomore showcase presentations, but more than anything, she needed a few moments to compose herself. Keeping secrets, even Liz's secrets, from Alex felt wrong.

As she was leaving the music room, she saw liz go into the girls bathroom down the hall. Now or never, she thought to herself, as she walked in, closing the door softly behind her. Liz hadn't noticed her arrival, she was at the sink splashing water on her face.

"Sooo", Maria began, noticing how badly Liz had jumped when she heard Maria's voice.

"I called like, 19 times last night."

"Yeah, about that..."Liz stammered.

"Why are you lying to me?" Maria asked bluntly.

"I'm not lying about anything. What are you talking about?" Liz argued.

"Let me set the scene, Liz. You, a _bullet_, Max Evans, and a bottle of Ketchup." She watched Liz.

"You said it yourself, Maria. It was just ketchup."

Slowly Maria drew the order pad out of her pocket. "This isn't ketchup, Liz" she said quietly.

"Where did you get that?" Liz asked, gasping. "Did you take my back pack too?"

But Maria wasn't listening to Liz's words; she was staring at Liz's stomach, where her sweater met the waist of her jeans. Except, when Liz moved, her sweater did too, just a little.

"Liz, what IS THAT?" She breathed.

"What?" Liz asked.

Walking over to her, she spun Liz around to face the mirrors, yanking her sweater past her navel. In the fluorescent lights of the bathroom, the silver handprint gleamed faintly.

Maria backed away, shaking her head. "Liz, the sheriff's called me in for more questions. Today, after school."

Liz stared at her with wide eyes. Then she swallowed.

"Maria, whatever you're thinking, it's not. OK? You just gotta trust me. You can't tell the sheriff about this! Please, promise me?"

Maria shook her head. "No. No more lies."

"It's not lying, Maria. No one's actually lying, we're just, omitting…"

"LIZ! You, you are lying, to me! I'm your best friend. You and Alex are the only two people in the world I trust in, and believe in, completely. And you're lying to me."

"Maria, Maria, just wait, okay. If you promise not to say anything about this to the Sheriff, I will tell you everything."

"Today. Tonight. Before the crash festival?" Maria demanded.

"Yes."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still not mine!

What do ya'll think so far? Candy's coming soon, I promise!

Through the Silvered Glass-Chapter Three: Up North

Michael's POV

Michael pushed through the crowed halls, elbowing his way through the crowds as needed. The entire school was heading for the gym, for a pep rally for tomorrow night's football game. When you factored in the excitement of tonight's crash festival, you ended up with a lot of obnoxious teenagers. He nodded at Isabel as she joined him, smirking as her added presence parted the remaining crowds like the red sea. Must be nice to be the Ice Princess, he thought.

Together, he and Isabel searched for Max. There had been rumors all over school, about Kyle Valenti catching his girlfriend Liz Parker with Max Evans in the band room. Though no one had reported Max dead (yet), so Michael still had hope. After all, Kyle wasn't the sort to just walk away from someone poaching in his territory. Not with the whole football team to back him up.

His hopes were dashed when he and Isabel came face to face with Liz. The three of them stopped suddenly, all staring at each other, and then suddenly Liz bolted back the other way.

"He told her!" He could here Isabel hiss behind him. He didn't bother replying. It was time to leave.

They made their way quickly to the side door, and practically ran to the parking lot. Max was waiting at the jeep. He straightened up quickly when he saw them.

"Liz…" he started, but Isabel cut him off before he could say anything else. "Liz knows about us! Max, did you have to tell her everything? 'Cause she took one look at us and took off the other direction. That's not very promising, Max!"

Max stared at them bleakly. "Get in." he said.

"Tell us what happened Max?" Michael asked.

"Just get in, OK?"

They quickly got into the jeep. Max sighed, running his hand over his hand

"Just spit it out Max" Michael was out of patience. He could hear their time running out, like sand through the proverbial hourglass.

"Liz and I in partners in Biology" Max started.

"Yeah, yeah, we know your schedule, Max, get on with it." Michael snapped. Isabel watched from the passenger seat with wide, scared eyes.

"She cornered me in the band room after class. She had looked at some of my cells under the microscope" Max hit his hand on the steering wheel, swearing.

"Omigod" Isabel breathed.

"There's more. Maria cornered HER in the girl's bathroom, right before that. The Sheriff's making Maria come in, right about now, to answer more questions about yesterday. He's suspicious. Maria and Liz both lied about recognizing Michael and I yesterday, but the sheriff can't find the bullet. And when they were talking in the bathroom, Maria saw something on Liz's stomach"

"What?" Michael asked confused.

"My handprint. And it was glowing." Max replied.

"Omigod" Isabel repeated. She had closed her eyes, tipping her head back onto the headrest. Michael had never seen her speechless before.

"The worst is, when Liz was in the band room, she lifted her shirt to show me the hand print, and then…"

"In walked Kyle Valenti?" Michael asked. Could their luck get any worse?

"Liz sent him off with some excuse about studying, but I'm not sure he bought it. And right about now Liz is waiting outside the sheriff's station for Maria. She's gonna tell her everything. She had to promise Maria, or else Maria was gonna tell the Sheriff everything"

"Some friend" Michael growled. "Is that the thanks we get for saving her best friend's life?" he had just known Maria would be a problem.

"She's lied to the sheriff twice now, Michael, all because she trusted Liz's judgment. But she's scared, and she knows she's being lied to." Max defended Maria.

"And the third time's the charm, right Max? Look even you two can't deny it; we gotta leave, now, tonight. Let's just go!" Before they erect a freaking blockade around this shithole town.

"Michael's right, Max. This has gotten way out of our control." She sighed. "But we can't just leave, we need clothes, money. We have to go home first."

Max just nodded. Michael had never seen such a forlorn look on his face. "Dress like you're going to the Crash Festival. Act normal. I'll pick you up at seven thirty, Michael."

Michael snorted and hopped out of the jeep. He headed towards the trailer. As far as he was concerned, they could have just kept going.

Maria's POV

Maria knew Alex would be at the pep rally, holding seats for her and Liz, but she just couldn't stand to be around all those people and their noise. The noise in her head was bad enough. She couldn't slow her thoughts, and her heart was beating a crazy tattoo on her chest. In her mind she kept hearing the gunshot at the diner yesterday, but when she closed her eyes, the image she saw was of the glowing handprint on Liz's stomach. She felt like she was gonna pass out.

Max couldn't be…..no! Stop thinking crazy thoughts, Maria!

_But how else could he have done what he'd done? _

No. There are no such things as aliens.

_People don't just get up after being shot._

There are no such things as aliens.

_Blood looked different than Ketchup._

There are no such things as aliens. Aliens do not exist.

_Who else could leave a glowing hand print on someone's stomach?_

There are no such things as aliens. And if there were, they sure as hell wouldn't stick around Roswell, New Mexico. Get a grip Maria.

Maria spun around at a soft sound behind her. Liz stood there, watching her warily.

Maria opened her mouth, and then closed it. In her mind she could here Alex laughing at her, telling her to turn on the 'Maria Filter'.

"Lizzie, where does Max come from?"

Liz looked at her for long moment, then slowly pointed upwards with one finger.

Maria looked at her, and then said "Up north? Like… Montana?"

Liz raised her hand a little higher.

"Canada?"

Liz just looked at her.

"Oh Liz, he's not, I mean, he's not an….. Alien?

Liz said quietly, "I think they prefer the term "not of this earth".

"They?" Since the room had started spinning a little, Maria decided to sit down, right where she was. The floor was really quite comfy.

"Max, Isabel, and Michael." Liz's voice was quiet.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Maria whispered.

Liz rushed over to her, and gripped her arms.

"Maria, it's gonna be ok. We just gotta stay in control". Liz helped Maria to her feet.

Maria looked at the girl who had been one of her best friends since kindergarten. "Oh, don't worry. I am in total control".

Liz had just started to smile, when Maria took off for the classroom doors, screaming for Alex at the top of her lungs. Liz beat her there, but only just.

Damn heels, Maria swore to herself. Alex probably couldn't hear her over the screaming cheerleaders at the pep rally.

Liz cried "No, Maria, no, you can't tell Alex, you can't tell anyone. They'll kill them!"

"Listen to yourself, Liz! There freaking aliens, Liz!" she was shaking. "What is wrong with you, how can you be so calm? And what do you mean we can't tell Alex! Are you nuts?"

"Maria, he saved my life, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Maria sucked in a deep breath. "Now I _know_ something is wrong with you, Elizabeth Parker, because _my_ best friend Liz would never say something like that. Liz, just think for a minute, ok? Just how did he save you? With some freaky secret alien power? What else can they do? And what if they decide you-me-we are a liability to them?"

"Max isn't like that. I know him."

"You know him? Liz can you hear yourself? You sound like a crazy person. I mean, we had this whole valedictorian pact, you, you were gonna be this great scientist, and I was gonna be your artsy, off-beat wacky friend. I can't be the wacky friend of a crazy person; it's like, a double negative!"

Shhh! Maria, shh, sweetie, you're babbling!" Liz was desperately trying to calm Maria down, but Maria wasn't having anything to do with it.

Maria yelled "I think I've earned the right to babble!"

Liz looked her straight in the eye. "Maria, he saw the cupcake dress."

Maria stopped mid babble. What was Liz talking about? She took a deep breath.

"The cup cake dress, Liz, that was, like, in KINDERGARTEN, Max and Isabel didn't come to school with us until third grade."

"I know" Liz sighed. "I don't know quite how to explain it, Maria. He said when he heals someone, it opens a kind of connection between them, and he can she images of that person's life. It's beautiful."

"What do you mean, it's beautiful? Did you see them too?"

"Not the first time"

"He did it twice?" Maria's voice actually squeaked.

Liz nodded, "Today, in the band room, after Kyle left. I was totally freaking out, just like you were, and he asked me to try something. He, like, reversed it somehow, and I saw his life. He and Isabel, they were found all alone in the dark on the side of the road, when they were really little. All they had was each other; they didn't even find Michael until they started school with us. They're all so scared, all the time, Maria. When Max saved me, he endangered all their lives. They might die because he saved me. Maria….when he looks at me, he had all these memories of me, he thinks I'm beautiful…."

"Oh Liz" Maria closed her eyes. "You are beautiful, you moron." And crazy, and being illogical, for first time in her whole life, Liz was being illogical. Shit! Shit! Shit!

There was only one possibility.

Max Evans was an alien, and Liz was in love with him.

How could she turn in someone who saved her best friend's life? Maria thought to herself. I need more information before I do anything, she decided. And Alex. So for now, I just gotta stall, until I can talk to Liz and Alex and…them.

Maria's POV- 1 hour later

"Have a seat, Ms. Deluca" The sheriff ushered her in into his office. She looked around, relieved that it was some interrogation room like the cops used on TV. Maybe that was next. Fun-Fun-Fun.

"Would you like a soda?" the Sheriff asked, solicitously.

"Does my mom know I'm here?" Maria asked, ignoring his offer of a drink. With her luck, it would be drugged.

"I left a voice mail for her, but I'm assuming she's already set up her booth at the crash festival?"

After a moment, she nodded. She sat nervously, on the edge of her seat. His silence was unnerving her.

"Why are you so nervous, Ms. Deluca?" She looked at him wide eyed. "What are you frightened of?" God, how was she supposed to know the right thing to do? What if Liz was wrong?

"I'm not frightened. I mean, it, was a little scary and everything yesterday, but …" She trailed off shrugging. She was desperately trying to remember everything she and Liz had said yesterday, hoping she wouldn't give any conflicting information.

"What do you know about Max Evans?" The Sheriff asked.

"Umm, I don't, really. I'm not a part of his group." She finished. What an understatement!

"What happened yesterday, at the crash down?" he asked.

She looked at him, than away. "I already told you, those two nut jobs took off after the gun went off, Liz and I hit the floor, and I guess she knocked a bottle of ketchup off on the way down. Took ten minutes to clean up." She answered as flippantly as possible.

"That's not what these statements from two eye witnesses' state" Valenti replied, pushing some paperwork across the desk at her. "They claimed to see a boy, who looked a lot like Max Evans, run up to Liz yesterday at the diner. They said he did something to her."

Her stomach dropped. Witnesses'? She frantically racked her brain, not even bothering to hide her confusion. Suddenly, comprehension dawned.

"Those two crash fest nut-jobs?" she scoffed. The ones who pretty much saw the whole thing, she added to herself, silently.

"They took a call from E.T., too, right before I brought their burgers" she said, with as much attitude as she could muster. Please, please don't let him arrest me for mouthing off to an authority figure she prayed.

"Ms. Deluca, may I call you Maria" She nodded. He wasn't really asking anyway. Adults never did.

"Maria, I'm gonna show you a few things, just to see if they jog your memory". She nodded again. She was starting to feel like a bobble-head Maria. She had to force a nervous giggle down.

"Do you recognize this?" he placed the item on the desk. She stared at it, Liz's voice echoing in her head _"did you take my back pack, too?" _Maria swallowed. "Seen a lot like it around school. Maybe it's Kyle's?" She suggested.

"I doubt it, Maria. This was turned in to our lost and found earlier today" Valenti said. His eyes were trained on her face.

I just bet it was, Maria thought to herself.

"This was inside of it." He splayed Liz's uniform across the desk. Maria just stared at it, the red stain growing out of the center of the turquoise dress like a crimson flower, at the center of which was the bullet hole.

"Too little to be mine." A whisper was the best she could manage. She really, really wanted Alex. "I've always hated the scent of ketchup". She tried for more volume that time, but she felt precariously close to tears.

"Can I go now?" She asked. She wanted out, now.

"One last thing". He reached into a large tan envelope on his desk, and drew out two black and white photos. He laid them on his desk, in front of chair.

She had started to lean forward, in spite of herself, but when she realized what she was looking at she jerked back so hard her chair almost tipped over.

"Oh my god, oh my god! Is that a..."

She leaned forward, taking in deep, heaving breaths, trying not to pass out for the second time that day.

She looked at the Valenti "Why the hell are you showing me this?" But she had a horrible, sinking feeling she knew, and now tears _were_ sliding down her face, quietly, slowly.

"Take a look at this mark, here on the man's chest. The coroner couldn't find a cause of death, but he couldn't explain this mark, either. Have you ever seen a mark like this before, Maria?"

She shook her head, tears still slipping down her cheeks. Oh please-please-please let me out of here.

"My son, Kyle….you said you knew Kyle, didn't you Maria?

She nodded. Just keep breathing, Maria, she thought. Just keep breathing.

"Kyle said he saw a mark like this on Liz's stomach today. Do you anything about that"

She shook her head negatively again. She no longer trusted her voice.

The sheriff leaned back in her chair, and sighed. "You know, I think you and I have something in common. I never really got to know my father very well either. He was the sheriff around here about forty years ago. Did you know that?"

All she could do was stare at him. She hated when people got into her whole broken home situation.

Valenti continued "Strong man. Strong hands. And he had this theory, you know? About aliens? That they were real. Sounds awfully silly, doesn't it?"

She nodded jerkily. She had wrapped her arms around herself, hugging herself for warmth. She'd never felt so cold. What if what she was doing was wrong? What if one of the three aliens had killed that man? What if they came after her or Liz? Wasn't it the Sheriff's job to protect them? How could he do that without the truth?

The sheriff's voice was quiet, but relentless "That's what everybody thought. But my father, he was a very stubborn man, and he wouldn't let it go. He believed, and he lost his job over it. And his family was broken up because of it. Now, I would hate to see that happen to any other family in this town, wouldn't you? "

He knelt down in front of her. "Now there's one more thing that you and I have in common, isn't there? We've both seen things recently. Things that have made us start to wonder, made us question ourselves, our beliefs, and I think that if we share those things with each other, we're both going to feel a little bit safer."

She just stared at him, and then she closed her eyes. She had to think! His words repeated through her mind. Family…Safe…Aliens…Broken…..Liz.

Liz.

Liz lying in the diner, yesterday. And Liz _had_ been broken, and Max, alien-Max, he had fixed her. Maria's mother, Alex and Liz were Maria's family. If it hadn't been for Max, her family would already be broken. Maria had already lived through one broken family. Max had stopped it from happening to her a second time. How could she repay that by doing it to his family?

She opened her eyes, and they fell on the photographs, and she forced herself to look, to take in the details, to memorize his face. This was her decision, and she needed to be able to live with it. She had to face what she was doing, after all, by protecting Max, she was potentially protecting a murderer. She couldn't ignore that fact.

Had she been calmer, she probably would have noticed it earlier. But it was stamped in the corner, small, and smudged. But after a second, her eyes took it in, and a second later her brain translated. It only took another second after that for her to become really, really angry.

In the right corner, both photos were stamped "Aug, 1959".

Forty years, she thought. The man was murdered over forty years ago. And though the sheriff hadn't hid the date from her, he hadn't exactly pointed it out, either.

The only person trying to use fear to control her was the sheriff.

"Maria, what do you know about Max Evans" The sheriff's voice was soft; he apparently hadn't noticed her change of attitude yet. She tucked her chin, wishing she had longer hair to hide her face.

"He's special" she said.

"Why is he special?"

"Where he comes from?" the sheriff prodded gently.

"Maria, where does Max Evans come from?

She stood up. "A loving home, with a good family, and really loyal friends." And with that, she declared her side in the war.

She turned and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Yup. Characters and general plot still not mine. And I'm not any richer for re -writing it, either.

Through The Silvered Glass- Chapter 4

"Conspiracy in Violet"

Maria's POV- Three Hours until the Crash Fest Countdown

Maria walked out of the Sheriff's office, shaking, but with fear or anger, she couldn't tell. She looked around for Liz or the ….others, she had expected they would want to know how things went down, but to her surprise, it was Alex she saw, leaning against her car.

He straightened when he saw her, his face showing growing concern when she neared him.

"Maria, have you been crying?" He asked, his voice showing his confusion.

Maria threw herself into his arms. She had never needed an Alex hug so much in her life.

Automatically, his arms wrapped around her, and he rocked them a little as she buried her face in his shoulder, grateful this summer he'd had his growth spurt, finally, he was taller than her.

"What's wrong babe? What the hell's going on? Maria, talk to me!" His voice had that gentle sound to it that people used around car crash victims.

She must look really bad, she thought wryly.

She wanted to tell him everything, all her worries, her concerns, the fact that she had probably just made a life-long enemy of Valenti. But all she did was shake her head.

"Not fun" she whispered. "Really, really not fun."

"Maria, it's me, Alex. Come on; tell me what's going on, please? I'm sorry I didn't listen to you this morning. You're right, obviously something's wrong, or you wouldn't have walked out of there looking like you'd just seen a dead body."

Oh, Alex…you're too late. Late-late-late. If she told Alex, he'd be in on the secret, but what if Valenti came after him like he just did her? She'd never want Alex to have to go through that. She didn't want anyone to have to go through that.

"Alex" she began "I just really gotta talk to Liz about things first, ok? Please?" She wasn't too proud to beg, not the way today was going.

"You will tell me what's going on, though? Right?" She stared at him.

"Alex, I hope this will be over soon enough that it won't even matter anymore…"

"Maria, you can tell me anything, ok?" She nodded. Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of their hug. It wasn't fair to hide behind Alex when she wouldn't even tell him what was going on.

"Do you need a ride?" She asked, changing the subject. They walked to her mom's jetta.

"Yeah, do you wanna wait while I get dressed, and then we can go to your house? I promise not to be a diva and hog the bathroom!" He joked, then added "I don't think Liz is coming, I heard she and Kyle got into some kind of fight."

"Oh, she's coming!" Maria muttered under her breath.

"What's that" he asked as he got into the car.

"Nothing, actually let me drop you off, ok? Part of my costumes at Liz's, and I wanted to talk with her anyway." She said, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Ok" he agreed, "Try to get her to come, too! Letting Kyle Valenti ruin her night is just giving the guy way too much power." He mock shuddered, and this time her laugh was real. What would she do without Alex?

She dropped him off, waving as he entered his house. Then she drove over to her house to get ready.

I cannot believe I had the guts to get this costume, she thought to herself. Though, to give it credit, it did manage to give her a figure. That fact almost made up for it being stretchy green velour with sequins. Almost.

She finished her eye liner, added a healthy shot of green glitter, and then penciled on a sparkly green spiral on her cheek. Satisfied, she turned to the task of alien green lip-gloss. Even with her arsenal, it was tricky.

A part of her mind, removed from her attentions to her make-up, idly wondered how it was she was able to go through with all this, calmly dressing like alien Barbie, all the while coming up with a rather wicked plan to give the sheriff a little taste of control and fear.

Maybe it's like that denial phase people go through when their loved ones die, and they go home and make pot-roast. Like, they have to deal with it on a subconscious level before they can deal with in person, she mused.

Finally satisfied with her face, she started to put on the bright green wig, but then she shook her head, even she wasn't ready for that yet.

Squaring her shoulders, she got into her car, and drove over to Liz's house. She let herself in using the key over the door frame.

Liz was sitting on her bed, her school books spread around her. Maria walked over, stepped up onto the bed and leaned over Liz.

"Now, listen to me! Before I go to this idiotic festival, we are hashing out this whole insane alien thing, and if you don't tell me every single stupid detail, I swear to god that the next time Valenti shows me photos of a corpse; your boyfriend's a goner. Are we on the level?"

"Corpse?" Liz asked, looking totally confused. Thank god, Maria thought. If Liz had known about the dead guy and failed to warn her…well, yeah. That was a relationship breaker.

Quickly, Maria filled Liz in on the conversation she'd had with Valenti. Liz's eyes got bigger and bigger until Maria seriously started to wonder if it was possible for them to pop out. After all, if there were actually aliens in Roswell…well, weirder things had happened. Today, as a matter of fact.

Liz sat back. "Omigod, Maria, I'm so sorry, I had no idea. And the hand print looked just like the one on my stomach?"

"Yeah, I think so. I guess we could do a comparison?"

Liz nodded and lifted up her sweater. To their shock the handprint faded. "Valenti said it faded on the corpse, too" Maria said, shivering. "So Creepy"

"Wonder why he didn't call me in?" Liz said.

"Because he knows you already lied to him. He had me pegged as the weakest link. His bad." Maria said, starting to get mad again.

"I gotta call Max and tell him about this" Liz said, reaching for the phone.

"Liz, I swear to god if you don't answer my questions right now, I am speed-dialing Alex, and telling him about our new extra-curricular activities." Maria shook her head. "No, on second thought, I'm doing it anyway."

She reached into her purse for her cell phone, but Liz grabbed it from her.

"Ok!" She cried, "What do you want to know?"

Maria had had a few hours to sort through her thoughts, and she marshaled herself not to get distracted. So she sat herself on the chair across the room from Liz, and thought for a moment.

Crap. She shoulda made a list. Liz would have made a list. Oh well.

"Alright. Where do they come from?" She asked.

"They don't know. They think they were on the ship that crashed in '47. They all have really dim, confused memories of coming out of these, like, incubation pods, and when they did, they looked like first graders, so, that's how they figured their age."

"And there's only the three? Where's their ship? Their parents?" Maria asked.

Liz shook her head. "They think the government got them. Maria, when Max opened the connection to me...I promise, whoever killed that guy, Max, the others, they don't know about him."

"I'm so freaked out. We definitely, definitely need to tell Alex. James Bond, he's not, but, he's the best we have. God, Liz, this is serious, scary stuff. Now we're impeding a murder investigation!"

Seeing Liz was opening her mouth to argue, Maria waved her off.

"No, not arguing now. Their powers. Just what exactly can the …pod squad do?"

"Mostly they just manipulate the molecular structure of things" Liz replied.

Maria gave her a deeply not-amused look. "Umm, okay" Liz sighed. "Like making a green shirt blue."

Maria nodded, "So Max just waved his little three fingered hand and…"

Liz nodded. "No more bullet. From what I understand, Max is the best at it, followed by Isabel."

Maria's eyes narrowed. "That's how her majesty manages to look so perfect all the time." She muttered. Really not fair. "Wait, so are they really, like, creepy looking and just wearing, like, human looking costumes?"

"Maria!"

"Ok, whatever, I'm over it. _Not._ So what does grumpy do?"

Liz paused, and made a face. "Well, from what I can tell, he mostly just blows stuff up. He kinda has anger issues, I think."

"Ya think?" Maria said.

She sighed. "Liz, Valenti is not just gonna give up on this, it's like, some family quest or something. We gotta take direct, offensive action."

"What are you thinking?" Liz asked.

Payback, Maria thought. She gave Liz her 'not a nice girl' smile, as Alex liked to call it. Right before he would get the hell out of dodge.

"What's Kyle wearing tonight?"

Maria POV-1 ½ hours to Crash Fest Count Down

"Omigod, Maria, that's them!" Liz screamed in Maria's ear, startling her so badly she swerved half into the other lane. Maria had officially decided that the aliens had replaced her cool, logical Liz with a pea pod person, and Maria was definitely ready to exchange her back.

"Cut a U-ie!" Liz shrieked.

"A what? Who are you? Did those flashes fry your brain?" The plan wasn't exactly gonna work if they were dead!

Suddenly, Liz reached over and grabbed the steering wheel from Maria's hands, and gave it a hard yank.

"YOU ARE SO LUCKY I LOVE YOU!" Maria yelled at her. Jeepers, the two hadn't even kissed yet! She was getting out of dodge on their one-year anniversary.

"Maria, go after them!" Liz was still yelling, and Maria was getting less amused by the second.

"Liz, reality check. We're in a freakin' jetta!" No boy was worth this.

"Please, Maria, please just go!" Maria shook her head, and hit the gas, following the jeep ahead of them. Grumpy had just better not try to explode her Mom's car.

The pod squad seemed to realize they were being followed, and suddenly they cut into an alley.

"In there!" Liz yelled pointing. "Block them in with your car!"

Maria looked at her with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to explain to Liz just why that was officially the worst idea, ever, when Liz said "Please, Maria, for me?"

Maria sighed. They were gonna die.

Michael's POV

Michael exploded out of the jeep, glaring daggers at the two girls getting out the car blocking them in. Liz looked like she was gonna cry, and Maria was dressed up like some kind of alien Barbie.

He started towards them, as Max and Isabel moved to flank him. They all stopped a few feet from each other, facing off.

"Move your car, NOW!" He yelled at Maria. He turned to Liz, "Tell her to move her car, or I'll do it for her!"

Maria's eyes narrowed and she took a half step forward to him, before Liz's arm snaked out to stop her. He stepped forward too, until they were practically in a staring death match. She looked like she might have crying earlier too, but mostly she just looked pissed.

"Maria knows." He heard Liz say. He spared her a scathing glance.

"I guessed." Michael replied.

"Are you alone?" Isabel asked from his side.

"Do you see the army behind me?" Maria snapped. "I promised I wouldn't tell, and I didn't."

"So you lied?" Max prompted.

"Like a rug." She said, looking at him.

"Weren't you scared?" Michael could hear the confusion in Isabel's voice.

"Understatement" She was definitely pissed off about something, and Michael couldn't pin down what it was.

"Max, that means, maybe we don't have to leave" Isabel started.

"No!" Michael cut in. "We said we'd leave, and we're leaving. Move your car!"

"I really don't think you should try to leave. It would just show people you're guilty..." Liz started to say.

"Guilty of what?" Michael snapped, getting into Liz's face. "Saving your life?"

Suddenly Maria had stepped up to him "Guilty of murder!" she hissed. She was breathing hard, and for a moment he thought she was gonna start crying again.

Michael stepped back, staring at her. What the hell was she talking about?

"Liz..?" Max started, but Maria cut him off.

"Tell us about the fourth alien."

Stunned silence met her question. The three aliens looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked. "There's only ever been the three of us!"

"She means there's another one of us!" Michael was getting excited. How the hell could she know that, though?

"What are you talking about Maria?" Max asked. Michael could hear the suppressed excitement in his voice also.

Maria just stared at him, then looked at Liz and nodded. She turned and walked a few paces away, hugging herself as she leaned into the wall of the alley.

Liz looked at them. "Valenti's dad used to be Sheriff here in Roswell, he lost his job over this murder investigation, like, forty years ago, because he was determined to prove that an alien did it."

"Why would he think that?" Isabel asked

"Because the only cause of death they could find was a silver handprint on his chest." Liz said. The three aliens gaped at her.

"How do you know all this?" Michael asked.

"Valenti kept photos" Maria called from where she had walked to. She still hadn't turned back to face them.

"Valenti made her look at photos of a corpse?" Max asked in an undertone.

Liz nodded, looking grim. "Max, this isn't just gonna go away. He's suspicious; he asked about you by name, he's….." Liz trailed off.

"I wish I could take it all back" Liz whispered.

Michael watched Max, watching Liz. All the answers, he thought. They were here all along, and we don't find out until we have to leave. Figures.

"I don't." Max said. For one second, he started to reach out, as if he was going to touch Liz's hair, and then he pulled his hand back.

"She should move her car" he said, and Michael released a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

Max turned to Michael and Isabel. "I'm turning myself into Valenti. You and Isabel get out while you can. I'll stall them as long as possible."

Michael could only stare at him. No matter how many times he had threatened it, he knew he could never leave without Max, never leave Max behind. His world without Max was unimaginable.

He wouldn't do it.

"We said we would all leave. Together" he stressed.

"I could never go without you Max!" Isabel cried, pain in her voice.

"Maria…" Liz started, and then stopped as the three turned to look at her in unison.

"Maria has an idea."

15 minutes later…

"This will never work" Michael shook his head.

"Shut up Michael!" Isabel said. "All we have to do is throw Valenti off." She walked towards the jetta.

"In front of a few hundred witnesses" Michael replied.

"We only need the two." Max said, getting in the jeep.

Maria's POV 45 minutes to Crash Festival Countdown

Liz slid into the passenger seat of Maria's car. "I cannot believe Kyle bought that!" she cried.

Maria looked over at her, amused. "Why? You told him exactly what he wanted to hear."

"The kiss helped." Isabel added, in a smirking tone.

Liz pulled out her cell phone and called Max. "We have thirty minutes." She said into the phone. They pulled up to the crash festival parking lot, and the three girls got out.

"Liz, go find those two crazy tourists." Maria said.

"Got it!" Liz took off into the crowd, and Maria was left facing Queen Amidala.

This will work, she told herself. Just as long as Isabel doesn't actually run me over, and Michael doesn't manage to blow me up and….

"Let's go" Isabel said.

Maria nodded. She and Isabel slowly made their way to the parking lot, trying to give everyone else as much time as possible to get into position. Maria had been impressed with Isabel's ability to duplicate Kyle's costume. This might actually work. Of course, she could also end up dead.

Suddenly, Alex ran up to them. "Looking good Maria!" he said, before doing a double take at who she was walking with. "Ahh…Hi Isabel. Maria?" He looked at her for an explanation.

"Alex!" Maria said "Liz went over there…" She gestured vaguely behind them "and I really, really need her, could you go find her for me?" Maria cringed inside. This was definitely best friend abuse.

"Sure, sure. Are you okay?" He asked her, putting his hand on her shoulder. She bit her lip and nodded. "Okay" he said, and turned to go look for Liz.

"Boyfriend?" Isabel asked.

"Best friend." Maria corrected. "Way better."

They reached the parking lot, and Isabel kept watch while Maria did her best to make herself look like a victim of attempted vehicular manslaughter.

"Roll, roll!" Isabel hissed, urging her on with her hands.

"I'm rolling, okay?"

"This was your idea! Ok, that's better, gimme your keys"

Maria sat up and looked at her.

"Ok" Maria said. "I know that my mom's car doesn't look like much, but _not_ destroying it is the KEY to mine and my mother's relationship. Valenti is _nothing_ compared to my Mom. Got it?"

Isabel snatched the keys out of Maria's hand. "Just lie down and die already, Deluca." She said, getting into the jetta and backing up.

Maria took a deep breath and lay down, forcing her body to relax, to go limp like they taught at theatre camp. She could hear the jetta's engine rev.

"pleasepleaseplease!" she whispered to herself.

And then there was nothing but the sound of tires squealing and breaking glass.

Michaels POV- Ten Minutes to the Crash Festival Countdown

This was not gonna work, Michael thought to himself. He was sweating inside his stupid costume. It just figured that Kyle would pick something like this.

He was crouching in the parking lot, listening for his cue. He had seen Valenti grab Max a few moments before, shoving him against a trailer, and slapping cuffs on him.

Suddenly he heard breaking glass, and he sprinted out to the center of the parking lot. From the corner of his eye, he could see Isabel run off into the dark. He ran towards the pale figure in green lying sprawled in the dirt. His footsteps slowed as he neared her, she was so still, that for a crazy moment he thought that Isabel had actually gone and hit her, and he leaned close over her, listening for the sounds of breathing. He relaxed slightly when he saw her chest rise a little.

She's good at this, he thought, surprised. He was still leaning over her, so when she suddenly opened her eyes, he was so surprised he jerked back.

"Shut your eyes, you're supposed to be dead!" he hissed at her, angry that she had startled him.

"And you're supposed to be three feet tall, green and slimy" she hissed back. "Hurry up!"

She relaxed again, and closed her eyes.

Cussing under his breath, Michael leaned forward and placed his left hand on her chest, a few inches from where her neck met her shoulder. He could feel the paint on his hand as it transferred to her skin and then-

_(Flash) Maria being pushed aside by Michael and Max as they ran out of the diner on the day of the shooting (flash)_

_(Flash) Maria staring at a bloody ticket pad (flash)_

_(Flash) Maria staring over the Sheriff's shoulder as tears coursed down her cheeks (flash)_

_(Flash) Maria standing in Alex's arms, outside the police station (flash)_

Michael started, staring at the still girl lying before him, her eyes still closed. What the hell had that been?

Suddenly, he heard a guy's voice from behind him yell "Maria!"

At almost the same time he heard Liz yell out Maria's name. He could see the Sheriff running to them, Liz, Max and the two tourists behind him, and he took off the other way, pushing over the boy running towards Maria. Distractedly he realized he recognized the boy from the flashes he'd seen when he'd touched Maria.

What had just happened?

He took off through the crowds, pushing until he had passed the podium. He dashed inside the first porta-potty he saw, quickly ripping off his costume and shoving it inside.

Had it worked?

Cautiously he opened the door, trying to act as casual as possible. He came out just in time to see the Sheriff turn a young man in front of the podium around, ripping off his mask, only to come face to face with his own son, Kyle.

He's gonna be so pissed, Michael thought. That Maria girl was evil. Evil. He could appreciate that. He watched as the Sheriff stalked back to Max and dragged him behind a trailer.

Michael quickly snuck over to hide in the shadows. He wanted to be there if Max needed him, but he didn't want Valenti to see him if it could be helped. He watched as the Sheriff angrily un-cuffed Max.

"This isn't over, Evans." He heard the sheriff warn Max.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Characters-not mine, plot-not mine-dialogue-okay, some of that is mine, but a lot is borrowed, since it's funny. Still not making money off of this.

Thanks to my reviewers, you know who you are…You totally Rock. Big Kudos.

Through The Silvered Glass- Chapter Five

"Criminal Tendencies"

Michael's POV

Michael waited for Max in the shadows at the end of the corridor of trailers. He fell in behind Max silently.

"We could still leave." He said finally.

"And do what Michael?" Max replied. "We're sixteen, no diplomas, no jobs." He sighed.

"For now, Roswell is the only home we have."

Michael didn't say anything as they joined Isabel at the chain link fence separating the spectators from the crash scene. Isabel was standing pressed right up against the chain link, and Michael stood next to her, gripping the fence with one hand. All around them were humans dressed up as the aliens they were about to celebrate the demise of.

"10…9…8…7…"

Michael felt slightly sick as he stood there, the crowd swaying against him. He knew his face was blank, impassive, showing nothing of what he felt. Would they cheer at the scene of a car wreck, he wondered.

"6….5…..4…..3…"

They'll kill us too, if they knew, he thought. Except, now some of them did know, and Max had decided that they were all gonna be friends. Not likely.

"…2…1!" The three aliens watched in sad silence as the entire crowd erupted in cheers. Michael felt Max leave his place at Michael's back as he pushed back into the crowd. He and Isabel stayed, forcing themselves to watch the burning ship, the faux alien bodies splayed about like broken children's toys that had been set aflame.

The crash scene backed up to a hill side, with the fence making a half circle around it. He and Isabel stood down at one end of the semi-circle.

Suddenly his gaze was caught by a flash of green beyond the flaming ship.

Maria Deluca stood at the far side of the crash scene from him, hands gripping the chain link, as his were, as she stood inside the skinny boy's arms. But to his surprise, she wasn't watching the ship burn.

She was watching him.

And with that thought Michael remembered everything they had learned that evening. The possibility of another alien was more than he had ever dreamed, more than any of them had ever dreamed.

He turned to Isabel "So, this picture, what we're saying is there are more of us?"

She didn't turn from the scene in front of her "One more, at least there was in 1959".

Michael was starting to get excited again. "Well then there's hope. I mean if we can find him, he can tell us where we came from, what we are-"

She replied again without looking at him "Michael, calm down, we had one potential relative 40 years ago, all we know about him is he was a potential killer."

Calm down? Yeah right, Michael thought. As long as he was stuck in Roswell, he was gonna use the time to his advantage. He needed to know what the Sheriff knew, needed to see those photos.

And he needed to have a private conversation with Maria Deluca.

Maria's POV

Maria relaxed in the passenger side of Alex's Mom's car. Hers had been towed to the shop to fix the headlight.

Maria had made up with some story of realizing her keys had become missing while walking in the crowd, and going to check on the car just in time to surprise to thief.

She claimed the car had just stunned her, all the while hoping to make Valenti hope it was more. Her mother had come rushing over from her booth to check on her at that point, and Maria had discovered an interesting fact. Her mother seemed to dislike the sheriff as much as she did. She had reassured her mother that she was indeed, fine, and promised not to go anywhere else alone that night, which wasn't really an issue, because Alex wasn't letting her out of his sight anyway.

No one commented on the silver handprint, thinking it was just a part of her costume, but she could feel the sheriff's eyes on her most of the night.

When the Crash Countdown had hit one, and the fake ship was released to its doom on the rocky sands of the desert, she had stood inside Alex's arms at the fence, fingers entwined in the links, watching the flames. She had never before realized just how sick this all was.

Unwillingly, her gaze was caught by the three aliens standing on the far side of the fence from her and Alex. Max's face looked introspective, something Maria was coming to expect from the young alien. Isabel's face looked sad, an emotion Maria almost didn't recognize on the social queen of West Roswell High.

But again, it was Michael's face that made her catch her breath. It was totally impassive, only his eyes showing the barest flicker of pain.

He dies a little inside, every time he sees this, she thought. She shivered a little.

"Maria, are you cold? We can go, if you want?" Alex had asked, staring intently into her face. He had been wonderful, not pushing her, or asking questions, but she knew it couldn't last. Alex wasn't one to stand idly by and watch while his friends got hurt, and both his best friends had nearly died in the past two days. But for now, he wasn't pushing her. Knowing Alex, he was probably still shook up over what had happened in the parking lot. When he had run up two her in the parking lot, he had been frantic. He'd pretty much kept a hold of her the whole rest of the night.

"No" she had replied. Then she had grinned. "What I really, really wanna do is go over and dance. Pretty, pretty please?" And it was true, more than anything she had wanted to lose herself in the crowd, to pretend for a little while that her life was still normal.

Alex groaned. "Maria, you know I can't dance. I look stupid when I try."

"That's okay," she said, bouncing on her toes a little with suppressed glee. "I look way good enough for both of us. You just watch out for anymore rogue jettas." She had dragged him over to where the crowd was dancing to some really bad techno music, and proceeded to do her best to make them both look good.

She chuckled a little, glancing over at Alex as he drove. Poor, poor sweet innocent Alex. What had he ever done to deserve her?

Alex pulled into her drive. "Your mom's not back yet, is she?"

Maria frowned, glancing around, but she didn't see the old van her mom used when she needed to carry large amount of supplies, as she had needed to tonight.

"No, but it'll be fine. See you tomorrow, Alex. Going to the football game together, right?" She asked.

"Skip a chance to watch the jocks beat each other up for once, instead of yours truly?" He asked, raising his brows a little. "You should know better, Deluca."

She started to get out when Alex surprised her by saying "Is it over now, Maria?"

She sucked in her breath. She stared at him. "I hope so, Alex. I really hope so."

He stared straight ahead, seeing something in the night she couldn't.

"Was Guerin the one who tried to steal your car? Are you covering for him?"

Her eyes widened. Alex was wrong, of course, but still close enough to the mark to scare her.

"Why would you say that?" she asked, her mind working frantically. Had Michael been seen?

Alex shrugged a little. "He creeps me out, Maria. He skips school, gets into fights, he's bad news. Seriously." He paused. "And he was watching you all night, Maria. He was staring at you when we were watching the ship crash, and later I saw him watching you dance."

She forced a laugh. "Alex, there is nothing, nothing between me and Michael Guerin. I doubt he even knows my last name."

Michael's POV- Two hours later

Michael crouched in the bushes, watching as the last of the lights went off at Maria Deluca's house. Max would seriously be pissed if he knew what Michael was about to do. He had watched Maria the whole night at the crash festival, hoping for a chance to talk to her in private, but the skinny guy never left her side. Finally, he had resigned himself to more desperate measures.

Crouching, he half-ran over to the window he had determined was Maria's. Standing cautiously, he peeked in. Yeah, he had guessed right. He could see her in the bed next to the window, tangled up in the sheets, half the blankets on the floor.

He placed his hand over the lock on the window, grinning in satisfaction when he heard it click. The others might have their other powers under better control than he did, but picking locks was his specialty. Slowly he eased up the window, and started climbing in.

Suddenly, the figure on the bed bolted upright on the bed. "Alex, is that you?" she asked sleepily.

He frowned. "Who's Alex?" he said, before he could catch himself.

Maria bolted to her feet, now completely awake. She grabbed the pillow off the bed and started beating him over the head with it.

"What (whack) are (whack) you (whack) doing (whack) in my room! (whack) I just knew that Alex was right. (whack) You _do_ have criminal tendencies. (whack) Freaking Alien!"

Her voice had risen in pitch. Fed up with being hit he grabbed to pillow out of her hands, tossing it to the floor. Grabbing her arm, he covered her mouth with his other hand.

"Shut up, you're gonna wake someone up! And stop saying that word; are you trying to get us all killed? You're an accessory anyway, now, don't forget that!"

Her eyes narrowed, and she bit his hand. Cussing, he let go of her, cradling his injured hand to his body.

She advanced on him angrily. "Now listen to me you stupid…" She paused as his eyes narrowed in warning. Her own eyes widened and she made a face, looking around for another weapon, he guessed.

She grabbed a stuffed giraffe off the dresser next to him, and continued to advance on him, holding the stuffed giraffe threateningly.

"Now listen to me you stupid…Czechoslovakian! I am not your friend! I don't know anything about you Czechoslovakians! Are you good Czechoslovakians? Bad Czechoslovakians? I don't know. You're just random Czechoslovakians! For all I know, you don't have your passports!" She managed to say it all in one breath, in an angry undertone.

Michael just stared at her. The girl was certifiable, he decided. "What the hell are you talking about?" he whispered.

Maria made a muffled scream sound in her throat. "Out! Get out!"

She started to push him towards the window. Michael decided that information from a crazy person wasn't worth it anyway, so he started back to the window.

"Wait!" she hissed at him, pulling back around to face her. "What the hell are you doing here Guerin?"

For the first time Michael realized Maria wasn't wearing anything more than a tank top and boxer shorts. He swallowed.

"What?" he managed.

"Why. Are. You. Here? Is English your second language or something? Should I try Vulcan?"

He looked at her. "I...um, I wanted o talk about the photos the sheriff showed you. Do you remember what they looked like?"

She had gone still very suddenly. Michael tensed, bracing himself for another attack.

"I'm not likely to forget them anytime soon." Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear it. She sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. Warily Michael moved to sit at her desk chair. He still hadn't ruled out a surprise attack.

"You couldn't just call, like a normal person?" She asked, rubbing her forehead.

"Not my style" He said, smirking.

"Which part?" She shot back, "normal or person?"

"Just tell me about the damn photos" He snapped.

"Older, male, brown hair, dead." she snapped back.

Michael swore softly under his breath. "Well, would you recognize the guy if you saw him again?"

"Michael, if I see the guy again, I'm running in the other direction, _screaming_. Older dead guys aren't exactly _my _style."

"And it was definitely the same handprint?" He asked.

"Well, it couldn't have been the exact same handprint, right? Cause Max wasn't even born yet. But…yeah, it looked just like it. Silver, glowing, hand-shaped."

"I gotta get those files." Michael said.

"Whoa, whoa, space-boy. You're talking about B & E at the cop shop. We're trying to get that man to leave you alone, you can't just waltz in and steal his stuff." She said.

"I just need a plan, a cover story." He replied, looking at her.

"Oh, no. No. No. No." She shook her head. "One minute I'm a waitress and the next I'm a freaking accessory to Czechoslovakians. No way. You are leaving."

She stood up. "Come on."

She stood up, and exited the room. He followed her to the front door. She opened it and stood waiting for him to leave.

"Make sure you lock your window again." he said, looking at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, what are the odds of my house being broken into by a Czechoslovakian and a cat burglar in the same night?"

"Just do it!" He hissed.

"Whatever" she said and he turned to leave.

"Michael!" He stopped and turned around. "Why were we whispering, anyway?"

He stared at her. "So we don't wake your mom." He replied.

"We're the only ones here." She said looking at him like he was crazy.

"Then why were you whispering all that time?" he asked, annoyed.

She looked at him. "Because you told me to." Then she shut the door, and Michael was stuck staring at it.

All the potential allies in the world, and this is what we get, he thought shaking his head. He started across the lawn, heading in the direction of the Evans' house.

Halfway across he paused and swore again. Why should he bother? Sighing he turned back around and followed the side of the house until he again came to Maria's window. He smirked when he saw she had pulled the blinds. Holding his hand over the lock he listened for the latch to catch. When he was satisfied it was secure, he headed over to Max and Isabel's.

When he got there, he stopped at Izzy's window first. Her shades were down, but nothing seemed wrong. Holding his hand to her window, he ascertained that it too was locked. He continued around until he reached Max's window. He smirked again. Max never locked his window either. Easing it up slowly, he started to crawl in. He almost fell out it again when Max came at him half asleep.

"Don't hit me!" He was betting that bat would hurt a lot more than Maria's pillow.

"Michael?" Came Max's slightly awake reply. Michael finished climbing in.

"Problems with Hank?" Max asked a second later. Michael looked up, frowning.

"No, why?" he asked

"Other than the fact that you're crawling in my window at nearly 4:30 in the morning? Well, your hair looks kinda flattened."

Michael swore. "I'm gonna get her for that."

"Who?" Max asked.

"Maria, I just came from her place." Michael winced, he actually hadn't meant to say that.

"Her mother let you stay until four in the morning?" max asked in disbelief.

Michael didn't say anything.

"You broke in? Michael, what were you thinking?" Max continued with "I can't believe you…"

"I can't believe you're in here sleeping when the key to our entire existence could be out there somewhere."

Max threw the sleeping bag he kept in the closet for Michael to him.

"Go to sleep, Michael." Max said, getting into his bed.

"Max, listen, those pictures Valenti showed Maria mean there's someone else out there. Someone who was here in 1959. That means he was here when it crashed. He knows where we come from, he knows who we are, and he knows why we're here. Maybe he knows how to get back." Michael hadn't felt this hopeful in a long time.

"Michael, I know how you feel. Believe me, I want to know too. But the sheriff has those pictures so we'll never see them. I mean, that would be impossible, right? Michael?" Max said from his bed.

Time for a subject change, Michael thought. He decided to ask Max something he had been curious about for a long time.

"Max, what does it feel like to heal someone?" He said.

Max was silent for so long Michael thought he might have fallen back sleep.

"Heal like I heal you and Izzy all the time, little cuts and bruises, or big-deal healing like with Liz?" He finally said.

"Well, sometimes I can do the little stuff too; it's just a little harder on something living. Was it different with Liz?" Michael replied.

"Well, there were the flashes, but I've gotten those doing little stuff, too." Max said.

Michael sat up suddenly. "Flashes?" he asked.

"Of what had happened to them. With Liz, I saw her and Maria at the diner, her playing dress up as a kid, and this really ugly dress her Mom made for her first day of kindergarten. Some other kids were making fun of it, and Maria drug over their friend Alex, and proceeded to beat the crap out of them. The three all got sent to the principle their first day of school, that's when they all met." He paused. "It's gonna be really hard for them to keep this from Alex, you know."

"Don't even think about it, Maxwell." Michael said. And who was this Alex guy, anyway? The skinny dude who was always around Maria?

Soon after, Michael could hear the soft sounds of Max snoring. His mind was still racing though. So those flashes he saw had been memories, Maria's memories. But why had he seen them? He hadn't actually been healing her. And how to get those photos? They were locked up in the Sheriff's station, and Maria had been right, it wasn't something lightly done. It would require reconnaissance.

Finally, he started drifting off to sleep, drifting into memory….

_The boy had been deeply excited when he finally understood the concept of locks. The idea that something could be separated, hid, protected had excited him. Equally so the idea that he could get into stuff other people locked up. Being able to lock his bedroom door at the orphanage, and then later at the Guerin's had been one of the few things that gave him comfort. When Max and Isabel had shown up at school on the first day of third grade, they had recognized each other immediately. It was like something clicking into place inside all of them. Michael finally had somebody he could cast in the role of family. He had long since learned not to expect it at the trailer. Hank's wife, Jeanette had already taken off for places unknown. So at night, when Hank was drinking, Michael locked his door, crawled under his bed, and held onto whatever safety and comfort he could find._

_But their coming had posed an unexpected problem for Michael. They had shown a greater degree of skill in almost all of their powers, but when Michael had demonstrated his ability with locks, they had simply seemed amused._

"_Why do you need to do that?" Isabel had asked._

_Michael had simply stared at her, confused as to why the issue would even need to be explained. Locks equaled control, safety, power. But the other two had simply thought it a neat trick._

_So that first night, after they had come, Michael had lain under his bed, trying to decide if the other two were okay. They didn't seem to understand how scary the world was. What if they didn't lock their doors or windows? What if the bad guys got to them just when Michael had found them again? Michael would be alone again._

_Decision made, he had slipped out his own window, silently making his way through the darkened streets. It wasn't his first midnight ramble through Roswell. Finally he came to the Evans' house. He peeked into all the windows until he found Isabel's. Holding his hand to her window, he smiled in satisfaction when he heard the lock click. He made his way to Max's window, and was about to lock it also, when the window suddenly slid up. Max stuck his head out._

"_Whatcha doing?" Max had asked sleepily._

"_Nothing." He hadn't known how to explain, so he didn't try._

"_You wanna come in?" Max had asked, yawning. _

_Michael nodded and climbed in._


	6. Chapter 6

Through The Silvered Glass-Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Neither the characters nor the general plot is mine. Some of the little twists and turns are, but, still….not mine. I'm still not making money off it, either.

So, what's everyone thinking so far? I've got a lot of plot from the TV series, but, as I'm sure some of you hardcore Roswell fans already know, I'm pulling a little bit from the original book series, too. This chapter took forever! Sometimes I feel like the stories moving soooo slowly, and I can't wait to get to the next exciting part, but then I remember that the good part won't be soooo good unless I lay the groundwork first. In case anyone hasn't noticed, this won't be one of those stories that focus a ton on the action packed parts. I've always been fascinated with trying to figure the characters motivations out. Also, I know in the TV series, Michael talks about loving Maria from the day he kidnapped her onward, which I totally get, but at the same time….I just don't think he could have been around her all those other times and simply never noticed her. Like all those times he sat in the crashdown with Max? Or when he and Maria faked the car accident at the Crash Festival. Tell me Michael Guerin wouldn't have noticed her then! So, anyhow. Yeah.

P.S. I'm having trouble with an upcoming part in my story, so I'm going to put my ideas out here first to see if anyone has any suggestions. Feel free to e-mail, pm, or post them in a review, however, if you send me a good idea, I'm probably gonna use it. I'll gladly give you kudos, but, be aware. *grin*

OK- So, in 285 South, Michael and Maria take off on an overnight trip, during which Michael and Maria manage to pay for gas and a hotel somehow. Now, I don't know about you guys, but if some alien were to randomly abduct my car on any given day, he'd probably better have his own gas money, because I wouldn't. Not to mention money for a hotel. So how did they pay for it? I know I could just gloss over that part, and maybe I will, but it really, really bugs me. And, like, how does Michael always have money to eat at the crashdown? Does he have a job? If so, where? My Kyle is gonna be the mechanic, and Max will work at the UFO Museum. Eventually, Michael will work at the diner, but, in the meantime….Anyway, the best idea I have so far for road trip finances is the money Maria gets at the gas station for her mother's package, but then she'd have to pay it back, and so forth….

Enjoy the new chapter…

EverReader

"Far From Over"

Maria POV

"Liz, I'm telling you, we have got to bring Alex in on this. Alex is smart, and calm, and objective…all of which we're not." The two girls were in the backroom of the Crash Down, getting ready for their shift.

"We're not?" Liz asked, eyebrows raised as she tied on her apron.

"Well, I'm not calm, and you're definitely being objective, soooo…" Maria let the sentence trail off.

"Maria, listen to me. Max and I have already discussed this. There's no need to tell Alex, because it's all over. There's nothing to tell."

Maria stared at her, her mouth open. "Uuuhhh… duh! Czechoslovakians!"

Liz gave Maria a funny look.

"What? Maria, Czechoslovakia isn't even a country anymore. What are you talking about?" Liz asked.

"Its code for our….three fingered friends." Maria shrugged when Liz just looked at her.

"What, you try coming up something better at four in the morning!" She tied her own apron on, and went over to the mirror hanging by the door to adjust her antennas. She could see Liz's reflection in the mirror, she still looked confused.

"Four in the morning…" Liz trailed off, shaking her head.

Watching her in the mirror, Maria suddenly had a thought. Narrowing her eyes, she spun and advanced on Liz. "And just when did you and Max Evans have time to discuss all this?" She demanded.

Liz flushed guiltily. "Uh...well, he mighta, sorta…" She trailed off, squirming. Maria just waited.

"Climbed-the-fire-escape-to-my-balcony-last-night-after-crashfest." Liz finished in a rush, closing her eyes and bracing herself.

Maria sucked in her breath, eyes widening. "And just when were you gonna tell me about this? And what _is_ it with them and windows and-OH MY GOD!" She shrieked, a new thought occurring to her.

"Liz, what if this is like, some creepy Czechoslovakian mating ritual or something that they go through, omigod, and you get Max Evans and I'm stuck with Michael Guerin? Are you kidding me?" This was so unfair, Maria thought.

"Maria, calm down, and tell me what you're talking about." Liz led Maria over to the couch in the break room and sat her down.

"Well, at first, I thought it was Alex climbing in my window, right?" Maria started.

"Right." Liz started to nod, then said, "Wait…what?"

Maria waved her off. "It's just something he used to do, for a while, after his Mom first died, it's been like, two years since the last time he did it, but I couldn't think of anyone else who would, right?"

"Right." Liz said again, nodding uncertainly, trying to keep up. Then her eyes widened and then she hissed "Holy crap, you mean Michael…"

"Are you ready for this?" With that Maria recounted her late night conversation with Michael.

"I can't believe he did that." Liz said, sighing and sitting back against the couch.

"However, all things considered, I think it was just a bad judgment call, not a mating call." Liz joked.

Maria mock shuddered. Then she said seriously "Liz, I really, really want to tell Alex. He's too smart to keep lying to. I don't know if I _can_ keep lying to him." Maria said softly.

"Maria, I broke a promise to Max when I told you about them. It has to stop here, okay? The five of us, we're all just stuck together. The more people who know….They haven't even told their parents, Maria. You know why? Because anyone who knows is in danger."

"Liz..." Maria was shaking her head.

Liz took a deep breath. "Maria, you are in this now, but Alex isn't. Are you willing to endanger him just because you need him?" Maria recoiled, slightly hurt. Liz seemed to realize this, and gave Maria a hug. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. It's just that…When Max healed me, he endangered his life, Michael's life, Isabel's life."

She took Maria's hand. "Maria, I need a life or death promise from you, that you won't tell anyone the truth." She took a breath. "Because it is life or death, Maria. My life, their lives…Promise me. This is the cost of Max saving me, Maria. He saved my life, and I owe him my loyalty, now. The cost of my life is our silence, Maria."

Maria stared at Liz. On one level, she understood everything Liz was saying, and it felt right. Because there were no free rides. Everything of value cost something. There were no gifts. And what Max Evans had done for Liz was a gift, to her, to Maria, to Alex, and Liz's family. It was nothing short of a miracle. That was one of the reasons Maria had come up with the Crash Festival Plan. She was unarguably one of the people who had benefitted from Max healing Liz. Her world without Liz was unimaginable. The feeling of debt weighed heavily on her, imposing upon her freedom to act as she normally would have. So in one way, making a promise of silence was a simple, but profound way to offset that debt. It would level the karmic playing field, so to speak.

However, continuing to lie to Alex was not something that could simply be agreed to. Alex was the other part of her life. Liz and Alex were intrinsic to Maria's happiness. Continually lying and omitting things would feel wrong, and Alex might very well notice. In fact, she was sure he would eventually notice. And if he should ever find out….

But what's done is done, Maria thought. Max did save Liz. And I've already lied to Alex.

How could she regret Liz? She closed her eyes and whispered-

"I promise."

Liz gave Maria a big hug. "Thank you, Maria. Thank you. This is the right thing. Ok?"

Maria just nodded. She felt a little sick. Putting on her best Teflon girl smile she said, "Your dad's not paying us to chitchat, you know." She stood up. "The masses want greasy, nutritionally empty food, and by god, we're gonna give it to them." They walked out the backroom together, almost running into each other when Maria stopped suddenly.

Michael Guerin was looking in the diner windows, right at them.

"Czechoslovakian at nine o'clock!" She squealed as Liz ran into her back. "Ok, that guy creeps me out, Liz. I'm telling you, criminal tendencies!"

They watched as Michael straightened and continued down the street.

"Who's Czechoslovakian?" Alex asked, coming to stand beside them. The two girls spun as one towards their friend. They'd been so engrossed in their encounter of the third kind they hadn't even realized Alex had come in the diner while they were getting ready.

"The guy who..." Maria began.

'Just moved in from…" Liz said

"Czechoslovakia." They both finished weakly.

Alex looked at them funny. "Uh…yeah. You guys know Czechoslovakia hasn't been a country for, like ten years, right?"

"I told you so!" Liz hissed.

Maria just shrugged, "I suck at geography in class, I'm even worse at four in the morning, ok?" She threw her hands up in the air as Alex looked at her cluelessly, and Liz made a face sort of like she was choking. Or laughing.

"So, what about him?" Alex finally asked.

"Who?" The girls asked in unison.

"The guy who's not Czechoslovakian!" Alex replied.

"Exactly!" Maria said, throwing her hands in the air. "I knew you would understand." She wondered if she had managed to confuse him yet.

"Fantastic." Alex said sarcastically, a confused grin on his face. He shook his head.

The girls moved behind the counter, and Alex took a seat on one of the stools facing them. Alex had apparently decided that they were having a goofy female moment, and just seemed satisfied that they hadn't expected him to understand it.

"So the game starts at eight, but they'll have that pre-game show where they parade all the potential Homecoming royalty in front of everyone first." Alex said. They all considered that for a moment.

"Like a dog show!" Maria added helpfully.

"Or a livestock auction." Liz said thoughtfully.

The three looked at each and then started cracking up. Every time they would start to settle down, one of them one crack another joke, and they'd be off again.

"Pam Troy is definitely grade A!" Liz said, snickering.

"Prime!" Alex was laughing so hard his breath was hitching.

Maria was cracking up just looking into Alex's red face. She finally just laid her head on her arms and let the laughter shake her body for a moment. Liz's father and a few of the regular customer's were smiling at them; the tourists just looked at them like they were potential teens from outer space.

Wrong kids, Maria thought, cracking up all over again. This cracked the others up.

But check out the pre-game show, she thought to herself. Isabel was up for Homecoming Queen. Now she was almost crying in earnest and her side hurt. Isabel really would be Queen Amidala then.

"No more!" Maria pleaded. She straightened up. "You two obviously have no idea how to behave professionally in the workplace." She almost managed to say it with a straight face.

After a few calming moments, Alex said casually "So, was that Michael Guerin outside a few moments ago? I thought I recognized the hair."

The girls both paused for a moment.

Then Maria shrugged. "He was probably just looking for Max. You know how Max pretty much orbits Liz when he can." She said. "Looking here was a pretty obvious choice."

Alex frowned. "I'm more worried about Michael Guerin orbiting you, Maria. Liz, doesn't it seem like the guy is popping up everywhere, recently?"

Liz's eyes widened. "Well…I guess he could secretly be in love with Maria, and he's just waiting for his chance to climb in her window and spout off poetry in her direction." She offered.

Maria and Alex just stared at her for a moment.

She looks so darn innocent, Maria thought.

Alex sighed. "Is that a gentle way to suggest I'm being paranoid and overprotective, huh? Well, in the spirit of paranoid over protectiveness, Maria, would you like me to tell him to back off you?"

Both girls just stared at him.

Michael has twenty pounds on Alex, easy, Maria thought to herself in disbelief. Not even factoring in his more explosive personality traits. Even Alex's legendary dodge ball skills couldn't save him from Michael if he went after him. This mode of thinking had to be nipped in the bud.

"Alex." She shook her head. "I love you, but who bounced your reality check? Michael Guerin probably didn't even see me or Liz. You know he only hangs out with Max and Isabel Evans."

At the mention of Isabel Evans, Alex blushed just a little.

Oh, great, Maria thought. Both of them?

Michael's POV

Michael stood in the shadow of the building across the street from the Sheriff's station. He had been watching the building for over two hours. He had already noted the exits and entrances. He had a fairly good idea of where the sheriff's office was, unfortunately, it was on the second floor. He wished he could go in tonight, the homecoming game would provide good cover. Kyle Valenti was on the Homecoming court, as well as being in the game, and the Sheriff was almost guaranteed to be at the game. He still needed a better idea of the surveillance cameras and security system, though.

Finally deciding the building was as empty as it was going to get, he started across the street to the building, shifting his bag of candy to a more comfortable position.

An Hour and a Half Later…..

"You what?" Max asked, doing his best to keep his voice down. His parents were in the other room, taking pictures of Isabel and her date for the evening.

"Relax." Michael said. "I had a cover story." He took a bite of the candy bar he had just taken out of the sack.

"Did they buy it?" Max asked, looking worried.

"Obviously not." Michael said, waving the candy bar in front of Max.

"Not the candy, the cover story." Max said, sounding frustrated.

"And just why do we need a cover story?" Isabel asked sweetly from the doorway. In her red evening gown she looked beautiful. And irate.

"I know it's not because we're planning on breaking into the sheriff's station, because that would be very, very foolish, and we've had more than enough of that for one week, right boys?"

Michael eyed Isabel's long red finger nails. A fool would worry first about Isabel's alien powers, but by now Michael knew better.

"Don't worry, Izzy." Max said reassuringly. "It was all just hypothetical, right Michael?"

Deciding not to answer the question Max had posed, Michael stood up and stretched.

"Well, it's been a long night, and you guys have a game to get to, I think I'm just gonna head home." Michael said.

"Max…" Isabel said, her tone only mildly violent.

"Nice try, Michael, but I hope you like football. Izzy's gonna be a queen tonight." Max said, cutting off Michael's retreat.

"Or at least a princess." Isabel said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Michael, are you riding with Max?" Diane Evans asked as she and Phillip Evans came into the room.

Michael looked back and forth between Max and Isabel.

"Yeah." He said in resignation.

As the boys drove to the game, Michael told Max what he had learned at the Sheriff's station earlier in the day.

"Even I could handle the security there. It's pathetic!" Michael said.

"Uhh…Michael? Ever think it's because getting in's easy. It's getting out of jail that's supposed to be hard." Max said.

"We could pull it off, easy. That wing is totally empty after seven thirty."

He paused. He had really debated telling Max and Isabel what he had overheard at the sheriff's station. He been nosing around, looking for potential "customers", when he had heard Valenti walking around the corner in his direction. He had quickly hid himself in the shadows of a recessed doorway, but if Valenti's attention hadn't been on his phone conversation, he probably would have caught him.

_Valenti had walked by, a black scowl on his face. His phone was clutched tightly in his phone. He stopped, his back still to Michael. Michael was frozen. If Valenti turned around now, it would all be over._

"_A shot was fired, there's a bullet hole in the dress. I'm telling you, the girl was shot." _

_Valenti continued to stand there, listening to whoever was at the other end of the line._

"_Listen, you guys told me to call you if I saw anything. Well, my son saw that handprint." _

_He continued walking on._

Michael decided regretfully that he couldn't tell Max. To Michael, the meaning of the conversation was clear, they had to get those photos, and they had to do it quickly.

But to Max, they would mean just the opposite. Max would consider the conversation an even greater reason to lay low.

The boys pushed their way through the crowded stadium. Everyone in Roswell had turned up for the Homecoming Game. Michael could see Isabel sitting on a platform to one side of the field. The other girls had all chosen shades in pastel, so Isabel's crimson dress stood out like a beacon.

How is that laying low? Michael wondered. He could see Max and Isabel's parents in the crowd, Diane snapping photos continuously, and Phillip sitting there beaming.

He and Max pushed their way over to a section of the Roswell bleachers where most of the students had congregated. Suddenly, Max stopped so quickly that Michael almost ran over him. Scowling, Michael leaned around them to see what the holdup was, and then rolled his eyes heavenward.

Directly ahead of them sat Maria and Liz side by side, heads bent towards each other laughing. The guy who Michael had determined must be Alex Whitman was sitting behind them, the two girls leaning slightly against his knees as they talked amongst the three of them.

Liz shifted and glanced over at them, stopping when she saw Max. Michael couldn't see Max's face from where he was standing, but he could imagine the soulful look that Max would be making.

"Move Max." He shoved his best friend from behind. Max started to make his way up the bleachers, stopping when he got to Liz's row.

"Hey." Max said.

"Hey." Liz replied. They just looked at each other for a moment.

Are you kidding me? Michael thought to himself. Suddenly his attention was caught by the look on Maria's face. She looked as annoyed by the whole ridiculous situation as he was.

She looked at him, and suddenly Michael was remembering how she had looked last night, sleep tousled, and angry.

Maria scowled at him. 'Criminal tendencies' she mouthed to him.

His eyes narrowed, he had never met a more annoying person. Alex shifted behind her, he was looking at Michael suspiciously, and for a moment Michael wondered if she had broken her promise not to tell, but then he discarded the notion. Alex's reaction was suspicious, but more like that of an older brother sizing up his little sister's date. He ought to recognize the look, since he and Max had pulled it on Isabel's date earlier in the evening. Michael was amused that Alex thought he was into Maria like that. Everyone knew, Michael Guerin didn't do relationships.

"Do you wanna sit down?" Liz was asking Max.

Say no, Max. Michael thought to himself. Just like drugs-say no.

On the other side of Liz, Alex and Maria looked like they were thinking the same thing. Maria was even moving her head back and forth just a little.

"Sure." Max replied. Then he frowned. "But there's only room for one here, I have Michael with me." Liz frowned for a moment, and then brightened.

"Maria, you wanna sit next to Alex, and Michael and Max can sit on this row?"

Maria looked speechless, and it was Alex that answered. "Sure, Lizzie." he said, reservation clear in his voice.

Michael watched as Maria stood and climbed the next step up to sit next to Alex.

"Now how am I gonna lean back against you?" She complained to Alex with a grin.

"We'll make do." Alex grinned back, but he lost his smile when he glanced at Liz and Max now sitting down side by side, as Michael edged in front of them to settle in front of Maria. When they all finally sat down, her knees were just barely brushing the back of his shoulders. He could faintly smell her perfume.

Throughout the game Michael found himself becoming increasingly annoyed by Maria's knees touching his shoulders. Every time she shifted position, every time the crowd stood and cheered, he'd feel it, a feather light brushing that sent shivers down his spine. He started to wait for it, and every time it happened he got a little more frustrated.

Finally, Kyle Valenti scored a touchdown, and the crowd, Maria included, jumped to their feet to cheer.

There, Michael thought. That light pressure, just for a moment. He whipped his head around.

"Will you watch what you're doin?" He yelled at Maria, startling her so bad she lost her seat and started to fall backwards.

Michael could see what was gonna happen. Alex seemed to realize it too, but a second too late, he had been leaning down to say something to Liz, and his body was turned away from Maria.

Besides which, Michael's reflexes were simply faster.

They were at the edge of the bleachers, about three-thirds of the way up. That high up, the bleachers should have had some kind of guardrails on the end, but some seniors roughhousing had broken them off, earlier in the season. The school had only brought this section of the bleachers out of decommission to handle the surplus of spectators for homecoming. It was set slightly away from the rest of the bleachers, and the students had quickly taken advantage of that fact and claimed it as their own.

As Maria started to fall back over the edge, she had reached out to try to grab a hold of Alex, but her fingers had just missed his jacket. Michael had already been facing her, waiting for some smart aleck reply. He hadn't expected to actually scare her, though, and when she started to fall his arm whipped out, hand wrapping around Maria's forearm. Their eyes locked for a second, and he wasn't even surprised this time-

_(flash) Maria starting back in fear at the sheriff's office, terror coursing through her as she realized what was in the photographs (flash)_

Michael stared at her in shock. He had known she had been frightened at the Sheriff's office, but he was stunned at the degree of her fear. That asshole really pulled a number on her, he thought. He'd done a good job of terrifying her, but his plan had backfired. Michael could tell she was nervous around the aliens, but it was the sheriff she was terrified of, now.

How had she managed to pull that stunt off last night, he wondered. The sheriff had been all over her at the scene of the "accident". No wonder she had stepped into Alex's arms and not left for the rest of the night. He was starting to feel bad about pushing her about the photographs, knowing how badly it had scared her, but he forced the feeling down. He couldn't afford to worry about anyone but Max, Isabel and himself.

He realized that he was still holding Maria's arm. She had managed to regain her balance, and Alex was pulling her away from the edge, his gaze switching back and forth from Michael's face to Maria's, and then to Michael's hand on Maria's arm. She had grabbed his shoulders for balance, but had let them go almost immediately.

"Watch it." He said, impressed that his voice managed to sound so unemotional. She simply looked at him, and again he got that impression of someone hiding behind the green of her eyes.

"Thanks." Alex said, a moment later when it became obvious Maria wasn't gonna say anything herself. "Mia, come on. Let's trade places, okay?"

Michael raised a brown. Mia?

Maria looked at Alex.

"My continual grace astounds you, I see." She and Alex carefully swapped places, Alex holding on to her the whole time. Michael would never admit it, but he kept a careful eye on the proceedings also. After all, with the way the week had gone, if Maria fell of the bleachers in front of a few hundred spectators, Max might just pop up and heal her too.

That's what he told himself, anyway.

Maria's POV

Maria sat the steaming plate in front of her customer. "Careful, it's hot. Can I get you anything else?"

She looked up when the bell over the door rang. It was Alex. She studied his face. He had been suspiciously silent last night when he had dropped her and Liz off after the game. Maria had waited for him to start questioning her again. Her protestations about Michael had seemed a little pointless after his timely save on the bleachers. She still wasn't sure how he had managed to catch her. Alex had been right next to her and he hadn't been able to get there quick enough. Michael had half stood up and lunged forward so fast she had barely managed to keep up with him. Of course, she had been rather distracted by the fact she was about to fall nearly nine feet. When he had grabbed her arm, she had grabbed his shoulders in return, attempting to regain her balance. When she realized what she had done, she'd let go almost immediately, but he had held on for another moment, looking at her like she had the answer to some unspoken question.

Alex had immediately insisted on switching seats with her. Poor Alex was gonna be a nervous wreck if all this kept up. He placed a great deal of importance on being Maria and Liz's protector. And she knew he was suspicious about everything that was going on.

"Good evening ladies." Alex said, sliding onto the stool in front of where Maria was filling the salt and pepper shakers.

"I don't suppose anyone would be interested in the answers to the geometry homework? Strictly for comparison, of course." He said.

Maria perked up almost immediately. She knew that Alex knew how much she wanted those answers. Math was the bane of her existence. Geometry was a complete disillusion. Adding pictures was supposed to make something easier to understand. However, she knew better than to just beg outright.

"Well…" She started. "It would definitely be a timesaver, since I'm supposed to go over this five page English paper for a really good friend of mine who absolutely despises English. Thinks it's a total waste of time." She looked at Alex, eyebrow raised.

"And if my two best friends what their essay questions for biology proofread, they'd better pull them out." Liz said, placing milkshakes in front of Alex and Maria, before plopping herself down on the stool next to Alex.

"I went ahead and punched you out, Maria". Liz said.

"Thanks, but I gotta go back and grab my backpack, anyway." She said.

The three of them had been getting together on Sunday nights for as long as she could remember, to hang out and do homework. Liz was a whiz at science; Maria was a natural at English, and Alex never even had to try hard when it came to math. They all three hated history, and suffered it together. They all helped each other. In Liz's case that simply meant proofreading and quizzing on stuff like vocab. In Maria's case, it could mean anything from proofreading to outright copying. Math was seriously unkind to her, and she routinely scraped by the skin of her teeth and Alex's answers. Alex was somewhere in between the two.

"I'll go with you." Alex offered, and she looked at him. There was no reason for him to follow her to the backroom, which meant he wanted to talk to her alone.

She glanced up. Max and Michael were still sitting at their usual both in the back. That's why, she thought. But she couldn't exactly make a big deal about it; it would only make Alex more suspicious. She could feel Michael and Max's eyes on her.

"Sure." She said as he followed her back.

They pushed through the doors. Mr. Parker was pretty low key about Liz's friends hanging out at the diner, preferring to know where they were.

"How was your day, Alex?" She asked, trying to head off the inevitable.

"Boring, really" he said, looking at her. "Except of course for what's going on over at the sheriff's station, right now." At the mention of Valenti, she froze. She couldn't help it, the man scared her. She'd actually had a nightmare about him the night before.

"What do you mean, Alex?" she asked. She knew she was playing into his hands, but again, she didn't see what other choice she had.

"Couple of guys in black suits carrying boxes in and out the sheriff's station while the sheriff stood in the doorway, looking supremely ticked off. Are you ready to tell me what's going on now, Maria, cause it doesn't look like it's over. Those guys, Maria, they were pretty serious looking. They looked like feds or something."

Maria spun around, pretending to wash her hands at the sink. Her mind was whirling, what did this mean? It was too much of a coincidence to assume that it didn't have something to do with their Czechoslovakian friends. Should she warn them?

She could feel Alex come up to stand behind her. Unwillingly, she looked in the mirror. She could see the hurt and confusion on his face.

"Maria, I don't understand this at all. Liz is shot, but then she's not, but she's also flirting with Max Evans, when she's supposedly dating Kyle Valenti. And you, supposedly two days ago, you were hit by a car, but now your fine, but you not talking to me, so obviously, you're not fine, cause we've always told each other everything. Even things we didn't tell Liz. We've always told each other everything, Maria. You and I and Liz against the world, remember? I'm sorry I didn't listen before, but I'm listening now. Tell me what you were trying to say Friday at school."

Maria shook her head, still looking into the mirror because it was easier than meeting his eyes face to face. "Alex, you know what a drama queen I am? Always have been. I admit it, I was totally freaking out on Friday, but it was nothing Alex." She could tell from his face he didn't believe her.

He leaned in close too\ her. "Then why are you still lying, Maria?"

She closed her eyes, trying not to cry. It had been a really long couple of days.

"Alex, it's just not my secret to tell, ok? I had to make a promise, and I can't break it."

Silence met her statement. "No, Maria. You're suddenly scared to death all the time. There's nothing about this that's ok."

Despite her best intentions she could feel a tear coming down her cheek. She pressed her lips together really hard to try to hold back the rest. She wanted to tell him so bad. He was her rock, the sanity to her craziness, and she was so unsure of herself these days. But she promised Liz. And what if Liz was right and telling Alex put him into some kind of danger.

Unable to speak, she just shook her head negatively. Alex turned her around and put his hands on either side of her face. "Maria…" He began when suddenly the back room door was pushed open so fast it clipped Alex on the shoulder, knocking him to the side.

"Alex, are you alright?" Maria cried, reaching out to steady him. They both looked at the doorway.

Michael stood there, watching them. Maria knew that technically his face would be described as impassive, and technically it was true. None of the usual facial clues were there to give away his emotional state. Nonetheless, she knew without a doubt that he was pissed off. Alex seemed to pick up on it also, he had pushed her behind him somewhat, though she wasn't about let that fly, so she stepped up to stand next to him.

Michael continued to stare at them for a moment.

"Our table needs more Tobasco." He said finally, holding up an empty bottle.

"She's off the clock." Alex said, frustration clear in his voice. Grabbing her arm, Alex pulled her through the door to the diner proper, clearly unwilling to leave her with Michael.

Liz looked up with worried eyes as they re-entered. Maria could feel Michael's eyes on her back as Alex led her over to where Liz was sitting. In their absence, Max had come to stand next to Liz, they were talking quietly.

"Liz, I'm heading home. Maria, need a ride?"

She shook her head. "Alex, what about your essay?"

"I got bigger problems right now, it seems." He said. She looked away. This was killing her slowly. She could still feel Michael's eyes on her. He's afraid I'm gonna tell Alex, she thought. That's why he keeps popping up.

"I'm gonna head home, too." Michael said suddenly.

She tensed. Michael wouldn't try some macho intimidation thing with Alex would he? She closed her eyes. Of course he would, she thought. He's Michael Guerin. And that would be the straw that broke the camels back for Alex. If Michael tried something like that, he would never believe something wasn't happening.

She looked at Liz in desperation.

"Alex" Liz said. "I've looked over these equations for geometry, and I just don't get them. And Maria may as well go back to freshman math, she's a goner" Liz finished disparagingly.

Alex stiffened. "Maria won't flunk, Liz, how can you say that. I would never let her flunk."

He looked affronted at the very thought. He sighed. Maria could tell he still was upset, but she was so bad at math that he couldn't really rule it out as a legitimate reason to stay. No matter how mad he was at them, he would follow bestfriendship rule number one- Even when in disagreement, do not break ranks to outsider. Fortunately for Maria, outsiders included evil math teachers who hated her.

"We'll go upstairs Alex." Maria said, pulling on Alex's arm.

"I'll be there in a few moments."Liz called.

Michael scowled and stormed out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Through The Silvered Glass – Chapter Seven**

"**Coffee Break"**

**Disclaimer**: General plot, characters and some of the dialogue-not mine. Basically, if you recognize it, I didn't come up with it. I'm definitely having fun playing with it, though.

**Not-the-Original-Author's Notes**: So, I hope everyone is liking this so far. I'm sure everyone has noticed that I am trying to keep a lot of the first season's plotlines intact, though I am changing up the order a little. Soon there will be a bit more for me to juggle from a writer's point of view, so If I leave any plotlines dangling in the breeze, let me know so I clean them up. Also, I proof read myself cause I'm impatient, so forgive any typos.

Thank you so much all my reviewers, you really make my day, and everyone is right, having reviewers and being on people's favs list really does encourage me to update regularly. Next week may be a bit of a trial though, I'll be out of town, and I haven't quite figured out the internet/laptop dynamics of that little trip just yet. I haven't given up though….

**Michael's POV**

Michael slouched once more in the shadows across the street from the sheriff's station.

_He had seen the look on Alex's face when he had come in. The guy was gonna try to stir up trouble, most likely with Maria. Max had warned him that Liz had said the two were exceptionally close, and even Liz had concerns about them regarding their secret._

_She swore Maria had promised, but Michael knew that wouldn't stop the other boy from pressuring Maria. Too much pressure and she'd crack. Just look at Max and Liz, he thought. They both had._

_So when Alex had followed Maria to the back room, Michael had grabbed the empty tobasco bottle off their table and headed towards the backroom doors. Max and Liz were so engrossed in each other they hadn't even noticed. _

_He had stood there at the door, listening shamelessly to Maria and Alex's conversation. He had felt his gut clench when he heard Alex mention the feds. He was worried he would be too late to get the files, and a part of him wanted to rush out of there right now and head to the police station. But another part of him knew he had to wait until later, or he'd get caught, so he continued to listen to Maria and Alex's conversation._

_His frown had deepened when he realized Whitman was working her over pretty good. She kept refusing to tell Alex what was going on, but he was pulling out all the stops. The kid could give Isabel some tips on emotional blackmail. It just went to prove that caring about someone gave them power over you._

_He could hear Maria getting more and more upset. Finally, the husky sound of her voice made Michael suspect she was about to start crying, if she wasn't already._

_This conversation is over, he thought. He pushed the doors open, intentionally pushing hard enough that it would hit Whitman._

_He had been right, there were tear tracks on Maria's face, drying even as she frowned at Michael and helped Alex stand back up. _

_He didn't completely understand where all his hostility towards the other boy was coming from. He scowled as he stood there, watching the two of them standing there. Alex had tried to push Maria behind him. As if he, Michael would hurt a girl. Like he had been the one making her cry a moment ago._

_At last he decided his hostility was due to the other boy was trying to uncover their secret. His persistence was posing a threat to Michael, Max and Isabel. For some reason it bothered him that the other boy would push Maria that hard for information; push her to the point where she was crying. He had a nearly overwhelming urge to address the problem physically. It was his preferred method in situations where he didn't quite have his bearings, but after a moment he managed to suppress it. He couldn't afford a fight tonight; he had other business to attend to._

_Maria had been watching him closely, and he had a suspicion that she had managed to follow his thoughts to some degree, because she stepped up to stand next to Whitman, as if she would be able to stop Michael from doing something._

_Yeah right, Michael had thought. Maria was small enough that he could probably just pick her up and place her on the other side of the room before dealing with dodge-ball boy. Inwardly he had smiled at the thought._

_When he had held up the empty tobasco bottle, he'd had an interesting moment when he thought Alex might actually try to start something with him. Unfortunately, Alex had decided not to make Michael's day, and had simply pushed past Michael, dragging Maria in his wake._

_He gets pretty physical with her, Michael had thought. He was mildly surprised she had simply allowed Alex to drag her behind him, like a child. Eyes narrowed, he searched Maria's face, trying to decide how close she was to a total breakdown with Alex in attendance. She seemed to be pulling herself together though, for the moment. _

_Of course, while he'd been distracted, Max and Liz had been caught up in another one of their Romeo and Juliet moments. Someone really ought to tell them that those two died at the end. As Alex and Maria came through the doors, Max and Liz jumped apart. Michael swore silently to himself. He couldn't keep his eyes on all of them all the time. And with Max and Liz, it was like they had their own center of gravity or something. _

_The four stood clustered together at the counter, the girls and Max now looked apprehensive, Alex looked pissed. Michael was just happy now one was kissing or crying._

_However, when Alex said he was leaving, Michael couldn't prevent himself from trying to make the guy sweat a little. After all, he didn't have to hurt the guy to make his point. He could just follow him for a few moments. That would get Whitman's heart rate up. He must not have been too subtle, though, because both girls had jumped in at that point. He had watched as Maria had practically forced Alex up the stairs ahead of her, to what he assumed was Liz's bedroom._

_So much for helping her out, he thought. Ungrateful brat. _

He turned his thoughts back to the building ahead of him. It had been almost two hours since he had left the crashdown. No time like the present. Making sure there were no cars or pedestrians in sight, he quickly jogged across the street to the alley that ran beside the police station. He flattened himself against the building, watching to see if anyone had noticed anything. After another beat of silence, he continued edging himself down the alley until he reached the pipe running down the wall from the gutter. The pipe that just conveniently happened to run right next to Valenti's office window. He waited in the dark another moment, gathering his nerve. He slowly but steadily started climbing up the pipe. He was glad it was anchored securely. It wasn't as easy as he had hoped, but he'd had some practice at this sort of thing. He had to keep from swearing every time his knuckles scraped against the brick of the wall. Finally, he reached Valenti's window. Still holding onto the pipe with one hand, he reached his other hand out to the lock securing the grill over the window. This time he did curse a little under his breath. The metal was welded, and it was harder to take care of than he had expected.

Finally, he managed to wrest it open. The latch on the actual window was next, but first, Michael crouched on the window sill and placed his hands lightly against the glass, sensing the light current that was the security system. He closed his eyes to focus, he always used to much power when he tried to do this and that would…

_BeepBeep._

With a grin, he eased up the window. He would never admit that he had wished Max was with him to do that part.

He climbed in as silently as he could. He crouched near the open window, listening, trying to determine if his presence had been detected. After a few moments, he grinned to himself in the dark. He moved towards the file cabinet, pulling on latex gloves. Luckily, the latex did nothing to disrupt his powers. With another wave of his hand he had the locked popped, but it did him no good. Neither did the next cabinet. Nothing but what you would normally expect to find in a small town sheriff's office. Files on drunken drivers, vandalism, court appearances. Nothing like what Maria had been shown. When he opened the third drawer, he'd closed his eyes and leaned his head against the file cabinet in frustration.

It was completely empty.

It had all been here. He knew it. The files, the photos, everything… And now it was gone. He wanted to throw things, break stuff, scream and kick. Everything. Everything he had ever lain in bed wondering about at night. It had been here, and now it was gone. Someone had come and stolen his answers.

And not just any some ones, but dangerous some ones. Government agents, probably. As Alex had so aptly put it, Feds. And Michael had no idea, really of just how much information there been there, or just how accurate it had been.

He moved to the desk, still looking, still hoping. He pulled open the left hand drawer, various bits and pieces of paper, pens and pencils, loose paperclips. A school photo of Kyle in his football uniform. He checked the next drawer, but nothing in there seemed unusual either. He sat down in the chair and placed his head in his hand. Was it all gonna be for nothing?

If he hadn't been looking down, he probably wouldn't have noticed anything. But he was, and so he did. It was almost totally underneath the sheriff's desk. Only a corner stuck out. Michael had to stick his head completely underneath the desk to reach it. He had trouble picking it up, so he used his fingernail to drag it closer. Finally he was able to grasp it, holding it closer to his face for inspection. Either the feds had dropped it while cleaning out the sheriff's office, or they hadn't noticed it. Or they had but hadn't realized its significance.

He studied the photo of Maria Deluca. It was recent, probably the one taken only a few weeks ago at school. Her pixie cut blond hair framed her face, and the green top she wore accented the green of her eyes. She was smiling, the kind of smiling that looked like any minute it might turn into laughter, and he wondered how she had pulled that off. In front of a camera, his face always felt wooden and unnatural. Of course, that was assuming he had even shown up on picture day. The rest of the time it didn't matter. Hank wasn't exactly a scrap-booker.

He decided he'd better take the wallet sized photograph with him. He didn't want the feds to get it if they came back, and he liked the idea of Valenti having it even less. He flipped it over. M. Delucca was written on the back in a man's handwriting. Like she was a criminal or something. He frowned.

He straightened, for a moment forgetting that he was under the desk, and he banged his head on the bottom on the desk. He swore quietly, and went to try it a second time when he felt something sticky pulling at his hair. He grimaced in pain, and ran his hand between his hair and the desk until he discovered the source of annoyance. Carefully, he pulled his head out, and used his hand to pull off the item taped to the underside of the desk. He was surprised the feds hadn't found it. He was even more intrigued that the sheriff had thought to hide it.

The key looked perfectly ordinary. He closed his had around it-

(flash) a white curve, smaller splashes of color, a feeling of heat (flash)

Suddenly a hand clamped on Michaels shoulder, and a small cry escaped him.

Shhh! Max said, whispering in Michaels ear. "We gotta move Michael, Maria's keeping watch, Valenti's in the lobby now."

Michael nodded, still shaken by what he had seen. What had that been? Did it have to do with their past? Had it belonged to the man who had died? Could it have been the ship?

Suddenly, they could here footsteps in the hall outside the door. They both climbed out onto the ledge as Max closed the window and reset the alarm. Michael didn't try to help, he knew Max would be faster. Max had just managed to shut the grill when the lights in the office flickered on. Immediately both boys flattened themselves against the wall on either side of the window. The alley loomed two stories below them, but Michael at least would have to cross in front of the lit window to get to the pipe. He was stuck.

"Max, get out of here!" He whispered. There was no reason for both of them to get caught.

"Wait for it!" Max whispered, pointing to the dumpster below them.

"What?" Michael whispered.

Suddenly, from the other side of the building Michael could hear one car alarm and then another, and then yet another go off.

"Now!" Max mouthed, gesturing down.

Michael closed his eyes and they jumped at the same time. Michael grimaced when he landed with a thump in the dumpster, Max landing a split second later beside him.

By now it sounded like four or five car alarms were going off on the other side off the building, and suddenly a small form in blue ran up to the dumpster.

"Come on!" she hissed, waving them out. The two boys climbed hurriedly out of the dumpster, following Maria as she sped down the darkened ally. They took a left, then a right, cutting between buildings, sticking to the shadows.

Michael hoped someone knew where they were going because for once his mental compass was not keeping up. He wondered if the flash he had gotten in the sheriff's office had upset it or something. As he thought of the flash he realized he still had a grip on the key in one hand, and Maria's photo in the other. He shoved both in his pockets and continued to follow the other two.

At one tight corner Maria lost her footing, nearly falling into the building, and both Michael and Max reached out to grab her. She regained her footing, panting, as they all were by that point. They crouched in the darkest shadow they could find.

"That sucked." Maria said after a moment of quiet panting.

Then she hit Michael on the shoulder.

"That was for hitting Alex with the door earlier, because I _know_ it wasn't an accident"

She smacked him again. "And that was for making me be your stupid distraction at the sheriff's station. No means _no_, buddy."

Michael glared at her. "I didn't ask you to do anything, you ungrateful…"

"Ungrateful?" She hissed, eyes widening.

"Guys, flirt later!" Max said.

"Flirt!" they said in incredulous unison.

"Shhh!" Max said. They continued down the darkened street.

"We're only a block from the Crashdown now, let's get to my jeep and I'll get you guys home." Max said after a moment.

It was only then that Michael noticed Maria had a messenger style purse slung over her shoulder. The weight of it shifting was probably what almost sent her into that wall earlier. But why was she getting a ride with Max too?

"Where's your car?" Michael asked. She turned around to glare at him.

"Still in the shop, Alex was gonna be my ride but..." She shrugged.

"He just left you?" Michael scowled. "I thought he was your friend or something. Doesn't he watch the news?"

She narrowed her eyes at him "I told him I was gonna stay with Liz, cause my mom's gone again." She said, defending Alex.

They reached the diner. "So, are you staying here?" Max asked.

"Nah, I'm going home. No clean clothes here." Maria replied.

"So?" Michael asked. She just rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, get in." Max said. "It's after curfew, and you shouldn't be walking alone anyway. Michael's right, Alex shouldn't have just left you."

"He didn't…ooohhh!" She threw her hands in the air.

She didn't want to be alone with Alex, Michael realized. She got rid of him because she was afraid Alex would put the pressure on her again on the ride home.

"Shut up and get in the jeep, Deluca." Michael said.

She made a face at him and then climbed in the jeep. On the passenger side.

"That's my seat!" He hissed.

"Shut up and get in the jeep, Guerin" She mouthed back.

"Michael!" Max said, sounding like a put-out parent on an overlong trip to the park.

He scowled and jumped in the back.

They reached Maria's house first and waited while she went up the walk. After a moment she had the door opened, and closed behind her.

They started down the road, and then Michael said "Lemme out here, I'll walk the rest of the way."

"It's three miles, Michael, and we have school tomorrow."

"You have school tomorrow" Michael corrected. "It's cool. I need to think, anyway."

"Don't think you're getting out of this, Michael." Max said from the jeep. "The only reason I haven't started in on this is because I'm gonna let Izzy do it."

Then I'm really not coming, Michael thought.

Michael had only gone about a block when he sighed and turned back.

_This is not going to become a habit, he told himself. This is only because her mom's not there tonight. It's not part of the routine. She's not even one of us…._

Fifteen minutes later he had checked the locks on the windows of not just Maria's bedroom, but her whole house. Her mom's window had been unlatched too. Didn't any of them watch the news? He wondered. He pulled up short when he saw the jeep parked in front of Maria's house again.

"Adding another stop to the route?" Max asked casually. Michael scowled at him, and didn't answer.

"You could've just told me to wait, Michael." Was all that Max said.

**Maria POV**

Maria hated Mondays.

She sat in home room, yawning, wishing she had a second cup of coffee. Or that she had had time that morning for a first cup of coffee, for that matter. She had overslept again. She noticed Michael, predictably, wasn't there. The bell rang and she and Liz shuffled out the door together. She had already filled Liz in on last night's escapades on the drive to school. Liz had just shaken her head at Michael's irresponsible behavior.

"He could have really gotten Max into trouble!" Liz said.

"Not to mention, yours truly." Maria added.

_Even with both girls trying to get him to stay, Alex had been too restless to remain for long. He left after only another hour or so. Maria had sat talking to Liz for a little longer before she left. As she did, she saw Max's jeep in the alley. She guessed Max would go on up now that she had left. They should have just asked her to leave sooner. _

_She had been walking home when she had seen Michael climbing the pipe to the sheriff's office. She hadn't really believed he would do something so moronic. Though why she had thought that, she wasn't sure in hindsight. She had considered, for a moment, just walking on like she hadn't seen anything. Then she had seen Valenti pull up, and she had hid instinctively. The last thing she wanted was another conversation with the man. When she realized Michael was gonna be caught by Valenti, she had frantically called up the diner with her cell phone, and had Liz put Max on the line._

_Within moments, Max had been climbing the pipe after Michael, while Maria had made her way over to the parking lot next to the police station. Still counting silently to one hundred in her head, she had picked out the likeliest (a.k.a., most expensive looking) targets. When she reached one hundred, she ran down the line, giving each a swift kick, setting off the alarms like so many noisy dominos. She had raced into the ally just in time to see the boys take their leap of faith into the dumpster. _

_She had nearly vibrating with nerves as she urged them out, then led them through the labyrinth of allies that linked the buildings of old downtown Roswell. Her mother's shop was only a few blocks away, so she was familiar with the area. Eventually, she wound back towards the Crashdown, but not before she nearly fell into a building after she had lost her balance on some gunk on the ground. If it hadn't been for Max (and Michael), she probably would have brained herself good. By the time they reached the Crashdown, where Max's jeep was still parked, the lights were all off in the diner. She considered climbing the fire escape up to Liz's room, Liz wouldn't mind, but then she decided against it. Sometimes she liked to be alone for a little while. This was definitely one of those times._

_Of course, then the boys had started their macho protector routine. As she stood there arguing with them she wondered if her life could get any more bizarre? She was catching a ride home with an alien, for Pete's sake. _

She was still pre-speech (i.e. pre-coffee), so she just waved a little at Liz as Liz headed towards the library. Normally they had gym together, but Liz had special permission to skip for the rest of the week while she and the rest of the science club got ready for some big state competition. She was walking along the hall towards the gym when she turned a corner only to run into someone. The other women had been walking quite a bit faster than Maria, subsequently; she lost a hold of everything she had been holding, whereas Maria only dropped a notebook. After reaching down to snag her notebook, she automatically reached out to help the older women gather up her paperwork. The lady was obviously some kind of staff; the files she had dropped were student records.

"I'm so sorry…." Maria's voice trailed off as she studied the file she was holding. The picture looked like it was slightly out of date. Most likely, he had missed photo day this year.

But the smirk at least was undeniable. It was Michael Guerin's file.

"Don't worry about it, I should have been watching where I was going." The woman was saying as Maria turned to study her. Mid to late twenties, blond, attractive, dressed expensively.

"…suppose you could point me to Mr. Singer's classroom, could you?" The woman was asking.

"Oh, uuuhhh, yeah, sure." Maria explained how to get to the classroom.

"Thanks, so much, I'm sorry; I never caught your name?" The women smiled, and for some reason, unease shivered down Maria's spine. Relax, she told herself. Yes, the alien thing is weird, but your whole entire life has not become the twilight zone or something. Nosy teachers are just bored, nosy teachers.

"Maria. Maria Deluca." She said hesitantly. Why did this woman put her on edge?

"Maria, it was really nice to meet you. You better get to class."

Maria watched as the blond women turned and walked away. Who was she?

Maria and Liz were walking towards the quad where Maria usually hung out with Alex during their "Study Hall". Liz should've been on her way to class, but something had wound her up tight.

"Ok, spill." Maria said, once they'd reached the quad.

"Ok, so today, in geometry we had a sub, right, Ms. Tupolski?" Liz said and Maria nodded.

"Yeah, I think I met her earlier." Maria said.

Liz's eyes widened. "What did you think of her?" She asked.

Maria answered honestly. "Killer shoes. Way to perky for first period."

Liz rolled her eyes at Maria.

"What?" Maria said.

"Ok, so first, she takes roll call, right? But, no sub cares that much!" Liz explained.

"Agreed." Maria replied.

"And she comes to Michael's name." Liz paused, taking a breath. They were leaning against the stone wall of the school.

"Michael's not here today." Maria said, without thinking. Now, just why did she know that, she wondered. She wasn't watching for Michael Guerin, was she?

Liz was nodding. "Yeah, I know. She got to his name, and then made a big deal about his absence, and then she asks if anyone knows where he is."

Maria was one step ahead of her.

"Isn't Max…?"

"Exactly! Everyone in class pretty much turned around and _pointed_ to Max. So she goes right up to him, and asks him if he knows where Michael is." Liz said indignantly.

"Oh, crap. What he'd say?" Maria breathed.

"Sleeping." Liz cried.

Maria choked on a nervous giggle. Wasn't geometry bad enough? Couldn't it have been shop? She could live without shop. She hadn't figured out how to get out of Math. Yet.

Maria slid down the wall until her knees were against her chest, and then she let her body fall a little sideways until her shoulder and head were leaning against her back pack. She covered her face with her hands. She was never coming to school on less than one cup of coffee again. Ever.

"This whole thing is just so…Roswellian." She said from behind her hands. She wondered if Liz could even understand her muffled complaint.

With a small thump Liz sat down next to her.

"Explain." Liz said simply.

"I mean, that's what the government does, right? Send in secret little spies…_Alien hunters._"

"Maria..." Liz was shaking her head. "That's just ridiculous."

Maria just stared at her with one eyebrow raised.

"No, I changed my mind, go on." Liz relented.

Maria was silent for a moment. What if she was wrong? What if she was just fanning the flames of this Czechoslovakian madness? She sighed.

"Maria…" She could hear the impatience in Liz's voice.

"I ran into Ms. Tupolski, IF that's even her name. And she dropped all these papers she was carrying. They were, like, student files, pictures, the works…."

"Whose…" Liz let the question trail off.

"There were a bunch, but I'm not sure how many." Maria sighed again. "Michael's landed open. I even saw his photo."

"She had pulled his file even before class! She was looking for him!" Liz exclaimed.

"We don't know that." Maria said, playing devil's advocate.

"You have to go out there and warn him." Liz said.

"Say what? Where!" Maria exclaimed.

"His house. You gotta go tell him this woman is digging around for information about him." Liz said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Can't we just call him?" Maria whined.

"What if the lines are bugged?" Liz pointed out.

"Liz this is crazy, I'm not going out to his house, and I don't even know where he lives."

"Lone Cactus Trailer Park." Liz said promptly. Maria stared at her.

"Liz, that's all the way across town." Maria was shaking her head.

"That's why you have to go, I'm already late for class, and you're free and you have lunch next." Liz explained.

"I thought this was over, Liz." Maria said.

"Maria, we can't just let him walk into a trap." Maria was seriously considering it though. It was like the cosmos had somehow decided that keeping Michael Guerin out of trouble was her job, and if that was the case, she definitely wanted a raise. A big one.

"We don't know anything for sure. Except that we should definitely, definitely tell Alex, because now we are actively aiding and abetting Czechoslovakians." Maria tried one last ditch argument.

"Maria, you'd better go, or you'll miss all of lunch." Liz smiled.

Maria scowled at her. "You suck."

Liz smiled broader. "I love you too, chica. Oh, by the way, Grandma Claudia's coming in tonight or tomorrow."

"Bribery will only get you so far, sweetie." Maria sighed.

She made it to the parking lot without incident, no undercover agents or aliens in sight. She was seriously considering running away to Fiji. Or anywhere that wasn't the alien capital of the world.

She drove towards the Lone Cactus Trailer Park with the radio blaring. One of the things she hated the most about school was the lack of music. Inside her head there was almost always some kind of music playing. Alex called it her internal soundtrack. Sometimes it got pretty loud too. Like, in geometry.

And right now, as she stood looking at number 127, it was playing that stupid "End of the World" song, and she did _not_ feel fine, in fact, she felt so nervous she was practically sick to her stomach.

What was she doing here? Michael wasn't exactly gonna be happy to see her.

Slowly she walked up to the screen door and knocked. She had too knock another two times before it was opened by a mean looking, half dressed man. He stood leaning against the door frame, shirt unbuttoned, and blinking bleary eyes at her.

"What ya want?" He mumbled.

"Is…" she started, and then cleared her throat. Somewhat louder this time she said "I need to speak with Michael."

The man just looked at her. "Michael? Michael Guerin? Maybe I have the wrong…" She stopped when the man turned his back to her, door hanging open in his wake.

"Yo, Mickey, company!" He hollered from the old recliner he had settled into. Maria could hear the noise of a baseball game on from the small TV in the corner. She stepped inside warily.

Michael POV

The only thing more surprising to Michael than the fact that his new geometry teacher was actually an alien hunting spy was the sight of Maria Deluca in his living room. He'd been listening to Metallica on his walkman, and had almost ignored Hank when he called for him. But for some reason he decided to check on what was going on, so he stuck his head around the corner.

He'd done a double take when he saw Maria standing there, looking more than a little nervous. He thrown a quick glance at Hank, the first order of business was getting Maria away from him. He seemed like he was in a good mood now, but Michael new better than to count on it for long.

He walked towards her, stepping in between her and Hank.

"Let's go outside. Come on." He tipped his head in the direction of the door.

He gingerly placed his hand on her back to usher her out. He wondered if he would get a flash, but nothing happened. He filed that fact away for later scrutiny. He followed her into the late morning sunshine, his stomach telling him it was almost lunch time. What the hell was she doing here? Had Max sent her for some bizarre reason?

He relaxed a little once they were outside and the door was closed behind them.

"What are you doing here?" Now that potential disaster had been averted, he could hear the hostility in his voice.

He didn't like anyone coming to the trailer; he always met Max and Isabel at the entrance to the trailer park. And he couldn't count how many times he had stressed to Max that Isabel was never to come here by herself. And now Maria was showing up. The little waitress was popping up everywhere he turned around these days. Hell, it was practically raining waitresses.

Maria frowned at the tone of his face. "I knew this was pointless, but does anyone ever listen to Maria? No!" She turned and started for her car.

He swore. She wasn't just gonna up and leave after that little stunt.

He ran after her a grabbed her arm. "What's going on? Did Max send you?" He asked.

She looked at him for a second and sighed. "No. Liz did."

"Liz?" he asked.

"Max thought she was just over reacting, but he didn't know about Tupolski pulling your file. Hopefully she's told him by now. I'm the only one with third period free, so I drew the short straw." Maria said.

He wished for just once he knew what she was talking about.

Seeing the confusion on his face, she started again. They were still walking towards her car, but slower now. He realized he was still holding her arm (again) and dropped it quickly.

"There's a new sub, in your geometry class. Ms. Tupolski." She began.

"You're not in my geometry class." He interjected.

"Shut it, Guerin, or find out for yourself!" She replied.

He scowled but remained silent.

"So…Liz and Max are in geometry, and in comes Ms. Tupolski, and she starts taking roll."

He frowned. "Subs don't…"

"Take roll, I know, freaky, right? So, anyway, she gets to your name, and there-you-aren't. So then she starts questioning the class on whether anyone knows where you are, at which everyone does a not-so subtle look at Max."

Michael frowned, he didn't like where this was going.

"How do you know all this?" He said.

"Liz told me, after Max tried to convince her everything was A-ok. But it was still bugging her, so she came and asked me if I thought it was weird, which, it totally was."

She studied him for a moment, and his stomach knotted, something else was going on.

"And…" he let the sentence trail off.

She let out a sight. "I had already met Ms. Tupolski before first period. We ran into each other, and I was helping her pick up these files. _Your files, Michael_. There were others, but yours was the one I saw for sure. It had your picture and everything." Maria said quietly.

"Your sure it was mine?" he asked quickly, his mind racing.

"Yeah, it had last year's photo and everything. She had others too, but yours was the only one that opened, soooo." She shrugged helplessly.

"How many others?" He asked.

"Maybe five, maybe ten." His mind raced. Ten would be good, ten was a lot. But five would be bad…

"Five could mean…" She started, following his train of thought.

"Ssshhh. I'm thinking." He snapped.

Five could mean she had pulled the files on the five of them, he thought.

Without meaning to, he thought of the photo of Maria tucked into his wallet. He ought to give it back to her, but would it freak her out even more knowing the sheriff had had it? She was already scared to death of the man. He decided to keep it for the time being.

"Don't hurt yourself." She muttered. She started to get into her car.

"Where are you going?" He asked, annoyed.

"Us earthlings do have to graduate, you know." She said sarcastically.

She closed the door and started the engine. She turned back to face him, eyebrows raised.

"Well?" She said impatiently.

He frowned at her in confusion.

"Are you coming, or do you wanna be a sophomore forever? I doubt it gets any better." She said drolly.

"You just told me my geometry teacher is out to get me!" He replied.

"So's mine. Are you coming?" She asked.

"Lemme get my jacket." He jogged to the trailer.

And the key, he thought. Originally he had planned on skipping school the whole day. As much as he had wanted to discuss the key and the flash it had given him, he had thought it better to wait until Max and Isabel's tempers had cooled. But evil geometry teachers kinda changed the game plan.

He watched Maria as she drove them back to the school.

"I'm, uh, sorry if Hank said anything rude or…" He trailed off, uncertain as to what he was trying to do. He didn't exactly make a lot of apologies. And he didn't care about what she thought anyway. Right?

She just looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Its fine, Michael." She said.

He pondered that for a moment. 'That's fine, he didn't do anything?' or "That's fine, I'm not mad about what he said?'. What did she mean? He decided to change the subject. An understanding Maria freaked him out a little.

"So, do you do everything Liz and Alex tell you to do?" He asked, purposefully baiting her.

"Do you do everything Max and Isabel tell you not to?" She asked in response.

Touché, he thought. He studied her expression; she was worrying at her bottom lip.

"You can't tell him." He said, making his voice as hard as he could. Once again, she had kept up with his thoughts, she didn't even look confused.

"He knows something's wrong. He's too smart to hide this from. He'll find out one way or another. It's only a matter of time. You don't know Alex. He's ten times worse than me. He's completely laid back about 98 percent of just about everything. But if something falls into that two percent…." She shrugged as they pulled into the parking lot.

She turned off the car and turned to face him.

"Liz and I definitely fall into that two percent. Eventually, he will find out. Or worse, he won't". She said, looking worried.

"Worse?" Michael asked, scowling.

"Worse." she agreed. "Worse is him deciding that he needs to do something, and because he doesn't know the situation, he does the wrong thing." She looked at him.

"Then you better make sure he doesn't do the wrong thing." Michael said coldly.

"I'm not scared of you. You won't hurt me, not intentionally anyway." She said.

"Sure of that, huh?" He asked, staring back at her.

"You are who you are." She said, shrugging.

Michael scowled at her. The most annoying thing was, she was right. Barring unexpected outcomes, such as her intentionally trying to hurt him, Max or Isabel, he wouldn't intentionally harm her. And he already knew she wasn't going to turn on them. So basically, she was right. She was as safe from him as Isabel or Max was.

But Whitman wasn't.

She was watching him with narrowed eyes. Again, he had the disconcerting feeling she had managed to follow his train of thought with great accuracy.

"Hurting Alex is the same as hurting Liz. It's the same as hurting me." She said quietly, with force.

"I'll do what I have to do to protect my family" He said tightly.

"So will I." She shot back.

They stared at each other heatedly.

Michael marveled that someone who could look downright angelic could be such a holy terror. Her short blond hair shone in the light slanting in through the window, making a corona of gold around her head, and the earrings she wore sparkled, shooting little darts of light into his eyes. He wondered if her hair would feel as soft as it looked. She wore it so short; few other girls that he knew of had hair so short. Her eyes looked enormous and liquid. For a moment he just let himself look at her. So often when he was around her, he didn't allow himself to actually see her. He'd always preferred her type of blond beauty to Liz's darker coloring. Granted, Liz was pretty, too, but somehow, Maria always just seemed to glow, to be just a little more alive than everyone else around her. And the sheer amount of emotion she displayed exhausted him just to watch. When she was sad, you knew it, when she was mad, you really knew it. And when she was happy, her eyes seemed to laugh.

Michael's biggest goal was not to let anyone see his emotions, unless it was his old standby-anger. Maria's emotional openness was foreign to him, and sometimes he couldn't help but stare at her, the way a small child would stare at something shiny, like the star on the top of a Christmas tree. He thought maybe that was as good a way to describe her as anything else. Something shiny.

But shiny things were easily broken.

"Keep Alex out of this, Maria. Don't make me have to get into it. It would be bad."

He'd meant to sound hard, but somehow his voice had sounded almost like he was asking for help. Which was ridiculous. He didn't take help from anyone. He didn't need it.

"Hey, Maria." Out of nowhere, Alex's head popped into her window. They both jumped.

"Where'd you go...?" Alex's eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of Michael still in Maria's passenger seat.

"Michael. Out of tobasco again?" he asked, frowning.

"Just stop it, ok, Alex?" Maria said, surprising both of them and ending their glaring contest.

"Michael slept in, he needed a ride and I wanted to get a coffee anyway." Maria said.

Alex frowned. "Come on, I grabbed your lunch out of your locker." He backed up as she opened her door and got out. On the other side of the car Michael was doing the same.

Alex and Maria started towards the quad.

"Michael." she called over her shoulder. He looked at her.

"I think Max and Isabel are looking for you." She said sweetly.


	8. Chapter 8

Through The Silvered Glass- Chapter 8

"Maria Called Mia"

Disclaimer- They aren't mine, I'm just playing with them.

A/N: So, I knew some readers kinda wanted to know Maria's feeling for Michael, and were curious about the flashes. Hopefully this chapter clears up Maria's point of view on Michael- she doesn't know what to think. Remember, Michael is very private. As for the flashes…..well. No, Maria does not get flashes from Michael and probably won't for a long time. My main reason for this may make some dreamer fans mad, but, here goes.

To me, it always seemed like the flashes Max and Liz shared are what really cemented their relationship. So, I couldn't really just cross that line without my candy fic starting to read like a dreamer fic. Something I love about Maria is that she comes to love Michael without the benefit of the flashes to reassure her of his feelings. Maria has abandonment issues, so her relationship with Michael takes a lot of emotional bravery on her part, because she and Michael don't take the shortcut Liz and Max do. I don't really want to take that away from her, because that is part of what I feel wins Michael over. So, no, Maria will not be getting flashes anytime soon, however, something very unexpected will come up sooner or later, which answers a lot of questions from the story lines left unexplained in the show. It is so unexpected, however, that when it occurs, my story may technically have to change to UC. Regardless, the events from the show will mostly take place, at least until the third season, at which point, all bets are off. You have been warned. For the record, though, I mostly intend to add events to the story, not remove them. The beauty of writing candy is that since the show was mainly dreamer, I have quite a bit of freedom. And yes, I did borrow the chant from the PBS show "Sid the Science Kid". It was just too cute to skip.

So, to my readers, here are a few things to think about as the story progresses:

Watch for the Maria/Mia references

Watch for family relationships between unexpected characters

Has anyone ever wondered why Maria was the last human standing in the episode "Wipe Out"? I mean, come on, if the technology targets humans, than technically, Maria should have disappeared first, cause Liz and Kyle have both been changed….

Michael's POV

"So, what exactly did you see?" Max asked, studying the key in Michael's hand.

The three were sitting at Max and Michael's normal lunch table, and due to the nature of the discussion, Isabel had left her usual table of sycophants to join them.

"I don't know, it was….intense. It all happened so fast, but it was strong. Probably the strongest flash I've ever had." Michael said, lost in thought.

"Because you have that many flashes?" Isabel asked dryly.

Michael looked at her, irritated. He almost opened his mouth to argue, after all, in just the past week he'd had more flashes than the whole rest of his life. Unfortunately, all but one of those flashes concerned one Maria Deluca, and he wasn't ready to share that just yet. Not with Isabel, at least. He hadn't completely made up his mind about Max.

"It certainly looked like he was having a flash, Izzy." Max hadn't taken his eyes off the key in Michael's hand.

"I mean, it practically looked like he was being shocked, like he was touching a live wire or something. I kinda thought it would shock me, too, just by touching him." Max finished.

"Only one way to find out." Michael said, tossing the key up into the air. As he had expected, Max caught it reflexively, probably before he'd even thought about it.

Michael held his breath, watching Max's face intently. After a moment, he let his breath out in disappointment. He could tell that Max hadn't seen anything, even now that he was holding it and trying. He finally opened his eyes and shook his head.

"No go." He said, placing it on the table in front of Isabel.

"Put that thing away!" She said impatiently, looking at the key as if it were a slug.

"Isabel…" Max started.

"No, I'm not touching it. It's stolen property. Best case scenario, it's stolen police property, worst case scenario, it's stolen police property that used to belong to a dead guy."

She sat back, pouting a little as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Isabel, this key is important. I'm telling you guys, the Feds cleaned out Valenti's office, and this is the key he hid from them." Michael said, picking it up again, turning it so it glinted in the noontime sun.

"Michael, you said it was taped under his desk, what if it's just his spare house key, have you thought of that?" Isabel argued.

"She could be right." Max said. Michael however, could hear the doubt in his voice. Max didn't think it was just a spare house key. Not Valenti's, anyway. He zeroed in on Max.

"Maxwell, the first thing you have to do is admit that you wanna know. You have the bug. Here is the key, but what does it go to? Admit that you need to know." Michael picked up the key and held it in front of Max's face.

"The key doesn't mean anything!" Isabel snapped. "And you're not funny. You're just trying to distract us from the fact that you broke into the Sheriff's station, forcing Max to come after you, and anyone could have caught you. Hell, Maria Deluca did." She continued to pout.

"Not the point. The point is….touch the key and see if you get a flash." Michael said.

Her words weren't even irritating him anymore, because he knew, he knew this key would help him find the answers he needed.

"Would you stop with the key?" She cried. "The key means nothing."

"Then why did it give me a flash the first time I touched it?" Michael queried.

"Ummm….Because your brain is warped!" Isabel suggested.

"Touch the key, Isabel." Michael said, unperturbed.

"He'll never stop until you do." Max pointed out.

"Oh, fine!" She snapped. She grabbed the key and held it in her fist, closing her eyes. Suddenly, her back stiffened, and she gasped, her eyes flying open.

"What did you see?" The boys hissed in unison.

Isabel grinned wickedly. "Brad Pitt in the shower. You're right Michael; it wasn't Valenti's house key."

Michael scowled. This was his freakin' life quest and she was cracking jokes. Grabbing the key out of her hand, he turned and stormed back to the school.

He could hear Max jogging up behind him.

"She didn't mean anything, Michael." Max said. "Really, considering the stunt you pulled last night, you got off easy."

"Max, I'm not like you guys. This isn't my home; I can't just hide here forever. I have to find out. I need to know."

"I understand." Max said. Michael just looked at him.

"No, Max, you don't. All you want to do is protect what you've got, here, in Roswell."

Maria's POV

Maria and Liz were heading to their lockers after their last class of the day, English. The hall way was full of busy, chattering teenagers; the din so overwhelming that she and Liz could probably have planned multiple murders without bearing overheard. Their conversation, however, hadn't reached that point. Yet.

"I'm telling you, Liz, you're gonna have to do something about Kyle. Kids in shop were placing bets on how long it is until he goes one on one against Max over the little band room incident. Even Alex has commented on you and Max hanging out all the sudden. Are you gonna break up with Kyle?"

Liz sighed. "I'm not really sure I'm even with Kyle. I mean, we saw each other over the summer, and it was just a casual….thing." She shrugged. "Now that we're back in school, I'm sure he's thinking of us just friends. Plus, as a football player, isn't he biologically programmed to date cheerleaders, or something?"

Maria just stared at her friend. She really loved Liz, but the girl could be so oblivious. Not to mention she had stood Kyle up big time on Friday. Which was sorta Maria's idea, but it was for a good cause. On the scale of evil, aliens were definitely better than football players. Now, the basketball team on the other hand….

Suddenly, she saw something that made her eyes widen.

"So, how sure are you of that?" She asked in a semi-strangled voice.

"What do you mean?" Liz asked without even taking her head out of her locker.

"Kyle Valenti and Company, coming straight at you." Maria said. It was so time to get out of here.

Liz's arm shot out, clenching on Maria's like a vise.

Liz was still ducking behind the door to her locker.

"Like, in this general direction, or in _this_ direction?" Liz whispered.

Both girls jumped when Kyle closed Liz's locker door.

"Hey Babe!" Kyle said , casually leaning in to kiss Liz on the cheek.

"How's my girl?" Kyle asked. Liz's hand hadn't released Maria's arm, and Maria didn't want to make a scene, but she was going to have to get out of there quick, because she was fighting a bad case of manic giggles.

"Kyle!" Liz said in a surprised voice.

"Hey, I was wanting to talk to you about Friday night" Kyle began. "When you're in a respectful relationship with someone you care about, you should be on time, you know..."

"See ya!" Maria sang out, wrenching her arm from Liz's death grip.

She turned and nearly collided with Todd, a hulking freshman who had spent the last few weeks becoming Kyle's wannabe shadow. He was looking her up and down in an insolent way she didn't really appreciate, and when she tried to go around him to the right, he made a point of getting right up into her space, forcing her to squeeze between him and the lockers. What a creep, she thought.

She continued down the hall, looking for Alex. The three of them had scheduled a "play date" that evening, in part to relax, and in part to attempt to reassure Alex that things were back to normal.

She turned a corner and for a second time that day she nearly ran in to someone. Once again both Max and Michael reached out to catch her, but it was Michael who kept her from bottoming out. (_Again_, she grumbled to herself.) Michael looked at her strangely.

"What's going on?" He asked, a funny tone to his voice. She looked at him; something about the way he was looking around made her a little nervous. He looks like he's in the mood to pick a fight, she thought to herself. For a moment she let herself daydream about sending him after that creep Todd, but then she reality checked herself. Michael Guerin defending a girl's honor? That would be twilight zone.

"Nothing." She said. "Ummmm… hmmmm. Yeah." She sighed. She couldn't just let them walk into Liz and Kyle's conversation. Too many witnesses. The things she did for Liz.

"We'd better all just go this way." She slung her back pack over her shoulders and grabbed each boy's shirtsleeve, one in each hand. Neatly turning them around by their arms, she pulled them out down the hall.

"What the hell…" Michael started.

"Have you seen Liz?" Max asked.

"Liz is a little busy right now." Maria replied.

"I really wanted to talk to her about biology." Max tried again.

"Yeah, well, apparently so did Kyle." She sighed. "Trust me; I'm no happier than you are, girlfriend."

"What are you talking about?" Michael was scowling.,

"Well Michael, when a boy and a girl like each other and the girl refuses to listen to her best friend…."

"You're talking about Liz and Kyle…?" Max trailed off.

"Rehashing their troubled, hopefully terminal relationship, complete with a football brained audience." She quipped.

Both boys scowled at her. She threw up her arms. "Don't kill the messenger ok? I'm certainly no part of that crowd." She shuddered, thinking of Todd. Ick.

Spotting Alex, she let go of Michael and Max and started towards him. Turning back she said "Liz will be done in about…." She thought for a second. "Six and a half minutes. Tell her we'll be at that place where we met when we needed to talk about that thing that happened, and it was on Tuesday. She'll get it. Thanks."

Michael's POV

Michael stared confused at Maria as she blithely walked off towards Alex, linking arms with him and heading down the street. She was already talking animatedly, and they were both laughing.

"The place… where they met…?" Max started, scratching his head.

"When they needed to…talk?" Michael asked, scratching his eyebrow.

"Because… something happened on …..Tuesday?" Max was totally guessing now.

Michael was trying to figure out how anyone's mind could be so complicated. And just how did Whitman manage to keep up with her, anyway?

"Hey guys, have you seen Maria or Alex, we have a date." Liz said, as she came to stand next to them, a few minutes later. Michael saw Max checking his watch, looking impressed.

"What happened Tuesday?" Michael said. He couldn't help it, it was like a riddle that had gotten stuck in his head, his mind kept trying to make it make sense, but it wouldn't.

"Tuesday?" Liz asked, looking confused for a second. Then she brightened. "Tuesday! Got it" She waved and started down the stairs.

"What happened Tuesday?" Michael called after her. Liz just laughed.

"Ask Maria!" She called back.

"That's what started this mess." Michael muttered darkly.

The boys turned to head back into the building so Max could get a book he had left behind, and they watched as Kyle and a group of his friends left. His eyes narrowed when he saw Todd. He couldn't for the life of him figure out the where-to's or how-for's of these flashes he got from Maria. Sometimes, when it happened, he wasn't even surprised. Other times, he was caught completely off guard. The one he gotten from her in the hall just now had been the shortest one, though. Just a quick glimpse of her trying to move around someone, someone who made her nervous. He had been able to see her more clearly than what was around her that time, which was weird, because usually the flashes were from her point of view.

He stopped walking suddenly, as a thought occurred to him. In the flash, she had been wearing the same outfit she was wearing today. Normally, unless a girl was wearing a mini skirt, he didn't pay much attention to what she was wearing. But the shock of seeing her in his living room this morning had yet to wear off, he felt like the image might be indelibly burned into his brain. She had been wearing jeans, and a graphic printed tee with long sleeves. Her bangs had even been pulled over the same way, with a little clip thing. The outfit had a little bit of an edge to it, unlike Isabel's perfectly matched sets, or Liz's Gap girl look. Maria had sorta looked like she could go back to school if she chose, or just drive off somewhere, to a party or a concert, wherever the road took her.

And if she was wearing the same outfit, then whatever he had seen in the flash happened today, in theory.

He watched Kyle and his friends get in to Kyle's mustang thoughtfully.

Maria's POV

Maria leaned back, letting her legs stretch out, the shimmery bronze nail polish on her bare toes glinting in the sun. She let the swings own momentum carry her back and forth while she closed her eyes. After all that had been going on the past few days, it was nice to feel like her weight was being carried for once. She could hear Alex on the swing next to her.

Every year, as they got older, she waited in fear for the day when Alex would shake his head, refusing to swing with her. Even Liz was too uptight to do it most of the time anymore. She wanted to keep her friends in Neverland with her, where they could play, and not have to grow up. Of course, some days she wanted nothing more than to be finished with her teenage years, this horrible not one thing or another time. But other days she wanted Liz and Alex to just play in the sandbox with her, where Alex was judged on his wonderful, whimsical castles, and not his lack of overt athleticism. She wanted Liz to be able to draw in the sand, and not worry about being graded on it. She wanted to play tag with them, because with tag, you always had a home base, and if you got to home base, you were safe.

But she couldn't keep them from changing anymore than she could stop herself.

But fortunately, Alex had yet to reach that point where he would no longer swing with her. They swung together, not in perfect unison the way she and Liz had as kids, but alternating, she able to watch him as he swung ahead of her, and he able to likewise. Their rhythm was almost like music, her Alex-and-Maria music. Not in perfect unison, but in total accord. Better than perfect. They'd had sixteen years to practice, after all.

"What are you thinking, Maria?" Alex asked suddenly.

Maria leaned back, so far back that if she still had long hair it would be touching the ground, her legs stretching out above her head as she swung forward, she closed her eyes again.

"There once was a girl named Maria!" She sang out.

"But everyone just called her Mia!" He sang back, playing along, he knew the rhyme well.

Her grin broadened. She still remembered just about every line of the "Maria-Mia" books as Alex had liked to call them. _The Maybe-True Adventures of Maria Called Mia _had been her favorite books as a child. She'd had all seven installments, and she had been able to recite them almost verbatim. It had helped that they had all rhymed. By the time she had started to move on to other books, Alex and even Liz had memorized bits and pieces, from hearing them read aloud too often.

But she couldn't help loving the books, even if they had been a tad bit young by the time she had discovered them. They were really meant for toddlers, and Maria had discovered them in kindergarten, but they were easy enough to read that she could read them to herself. And how could she not love a main character who shared her first name? And she had been in love with the idea of having a secret identity, the way Maria could become the superhero, Mia, whenever things got bad. At night, listening to her mom and dad argue, she would crawl into her closet with her flashlight and read the books over and over again. She would pretend that she, Maria Deluca, could also become Mia, and that nothing bad could happen. Liz never quite understood it, she was too firmly anchored in reality, even at that age, but Alex had understood her need to be someone brave and strong sometimes. When her father left, she spent an entire week in "Mia Mode", that is, once Alex had managed to drag her from her room.

Even though they no longer really spoke of it anymore, she knew that Alex knew she still pretended to be Mia sometimes. The night of the Crash Fest, she had definitively been pulling a "Mia". After all, Mia was far braver than Maria.

And she still had all seven books inside her Maria box in the top of her closet.

"I'm looking for my friends!" Liz called out as she joined her friends at the playground.

"We're looking for you!" Alex and Maria called back. First Maria jumped off, landing fairly gracefully.

Alex was next and he also managed to pull it off with a semblance of dignity. They shared a smile.

They all moved over to the shade under the trees, stretching out and laying down. Alex was propped against a tree, Maria was lying on her side, head on his thigh, facing Liz, who was laying down with her head on her back pack. Maria wondered idly if Maria and Alex's friendship ever made Liz feel a little left out. She knew she and Alex were unusually close, even for best friends, but they'd pretty much been friends since birth, and their closeness had been established before even Liz had come into the picture. Had things turned out differently sixteen years ago, it might have been her and Liz who were the closest, hell, she and Alex might not even know each other. But things had happened as they did, and it was kindergarten before she and Alex had managed to find Liz. But Liz was different from Maria and Alex somehow, like she was this complete person all on her own, she was the most singular person Maria had ever met. Maria's theory was that it was because of all the time Liz had spent in the hospital at the very beginning.

Alex and Maria had had not only their mothers but each other from the very beginning, almost anyway. Liz hadn't even had a mother until she was several months old. That was why Maria was so shocked at the impact Max Evans had on Liz. Liz's behavior towards him was so out of character. In a way it was completely frightening because Maria had no idea of what to expect from this new, different Liz. On the other hand, she was thrilled to see that Liz had finally let someone into her 'no-go' space, as Maria thought of it. Liz wasn't unfriendly or unaffectionate, but she was….different. Like she was perfectly capable of standing apart, and watching everyone. Maria would feel lonely in that position, but to Liz it was natural. She didn't even think Liz realized that she should feel lonely sometimes. Maybe that was why Max was such a perfect match for Liz. Like her, he was the most comfortable standing apart, watching. But Max _was_ lonely; she see could see it in his eyes, sometimes. But not as lonely as Michael.

She sat up suddenly. Where had that thought come from? She wondered. It was like she had aliens on the brain.

Alex and Liz had been talking about Ms. Tupolski, and how she had pretty much butchered teaching geometry class that morning. At her sudden movement, though, both stopped talking and turned to her.

"Something you wanna say, Maria?" Alex asked idly.

She wasn't fooled. He hadn't asked a single question about the recent weirdness going on. It was as if they had temporarily declared a truce, but she knew that only meant Alex was settling in to play his "long game" as he referred to his strategy when playing chess.

Maria wasn't reassured; Alex was a deadly chess opponent. He had taught Maria once, but she never could play the game like Alex. Alex could keep the whole game and a dozen different scenarios all in his head at once. Maria could never keep track of everything, could only plan a few moves ahead. Alex always teased her that had it been a complicated story line, or piece of music, she wouldn't have the slightest issue. It was probably true.

Maria was a realist, she knew people considered her quirky, and a little ditzy, but she wasn't stupid. If it was something she was interested in, she could be amazingly good at it. Unknown to most people, she was a voracious reader, and she read extremely fast. However, if the reading material wasn't to her liking (in this category would fall most assignments for school) all bets were off. She loved fantasy stories, with witches, dragons and sorcerers. She liked some sci-fi, also, but she preferred for it to have a romantic flair to it, as opposed to Alex, who read anything sci-fi he could get his hands on. Liz always teased her about her "fairy stories", as would most people at school, so at school she didn't bother to read much. That coupled with her well-known handicap concerning anything mathematical, and the fact that at any given time, it was entirely possible she was listening to the music playing in her head, and not whatever teacher was talking about had created for her peers the image of a ditz.

She realized she had gone off on a tangent in her mind, and had never bothered to answer the other two. They were used to her however.

She laid her head back down on Alex's leg, watching the dappled sunlight on the leaves of the tree above her. She loved this part of the day, when the sunlight had that golden quality, like it had somehow thickened and if she could reach out just right, she could touch more than just the dust motes dancing in the air. Alex and Liz's voices were mellow back ground noise, and she let her thoughts wander again.

Unfortunately, they wandered to a certain spiky haired Czechoslovakian. Finally acknowledging that avoiding the subject wasn't working, she let her mind have free reign.

How did Max and Isabel end up at the Evan's, and Michael end up with that man….? He had given Maria the creeps, the few seconds he had managed to focus on her anyway. It hadn't been very late in the day, but Maria was pretty sure Hank Guerin had already been drunk.

Was he always like that, she wondered, so…? The way Michael had silently freaked out when he saw her inside his house had almost insulted her, before she realized that as soon as they had shut the trailer doo behind him, an invisible layer of tension had seemed to melt off him. It was like he was frightened to have her inside his house. And he had made a point of getting in between her and Hank really quick, though she doubted he knew she realized that. Sometimes it was handy to be underestimated.

So, the question was, was she the problem, or Hank? Or was Michael afraid that she would say something to Hank? Or vice versa? Questions, questions.

And why did she care? Was she starting to consider him her friend? He wasn't exactly a friendly person, though she was starting to realize he wasn't quite as bad as he tried to act. He was definitely rude, exasperating and hot headed. He took impulsive to a whole new level. Hell, he made her look level headed. And she was starting to consider the possibility that his scowl was permanently attached, except of course, for when he was smirking….

"Earth to Maria?" Alex was waving his hand back and forth in front of her eyes, and she blinked.

"Wassup?" She asked. She was grateful for him not joking about her silence. Alex was one of the few people she didn't feel the need to talk to constantly, as is she had to fill the space around them with words.

"I'm Hungry." He said, helping her up. "Feed the Alex!" She laughed.

"I'm afraid to!" She replied, still laughing. "What if you grow even more? I'm not keeping up as it is, and three inch heels are my personal limit. They make four inch heels, but let's all just agree that that would be a really, really bad thing, ok?"

Alex and Liz just laughed at her. Alex was smiling more freely now, whatever Liz had been saying to him must have reassured him that things were getting back to normal.

"Let's go to the diner!" Alex said, and she and Liz just groaned.

"Come on!" He wheedled. "I know the owners, so I get a discount." He joked. It was true. Even before she worked there, she had gotten her food half off, and the same privilege had long ago been extended to Alex.

They walked down the street together, talking about the upcoming dance in a few weeks. Maria and Liz and Alex had always gone to stuff like that together, but this year Alex was sure that Liz would be going with Kyle.

"I mean, you guys are dating, right? You dated him all summer and you really seemed to like him. I know he likes him, so what's the deal? Unless, of course there is someone else?" He said, looking at her from the side of his eyes.

Maria held her breath. It seemed like Alex had zeroed in on the recent Liz/Max activity. Would Liz fess up about liking Max now? If she did, it might open the door to including Alex in more subjects, even if they couldn't tell him everything. It was Liz's call, though.

"No." Liz replied casually. "There's not anyone else."

"So, you're going with Kyle, then?" Alex asked again.

"Well, I mean, he hasn't asked me or anything…" Liz trailed off, looking a little trapped.

"But if he did…" Alex was fishing, now, pure and simple, but Maria was just glad for once it was focused on Liz and not herself. After all, Liz made Maria promise; she should really get to understand just what she had made Maria commit to.

"Well, yeah, sure…" Liz stammered.

Inwardly, Maria flinched. Liz, of all people should really know better. Yeah, sure, Alex looked harmless, but Maria knew this was just another facet of his long game. He had decided against direct confrontation, for the moment, and now he was circling from the side. And Liz had just walked into it. Checkmate.

Good. Maria decided. She had promised to not to tell, and she would do her best not to, but like she had told Maria earlier in the day, Alex was smart, and he would figure stuff out for himself. In fact, she realized she wished there was some way she could accidently let Alex know the truth. Alex was a good strategist, he would probably be more of an asset to the others than she and Liz put together.

They walked in the front door of the diner. Maria saw Michael, Max and Isabel sitting in their favorite booth. She realized bemusedly that the she, Liz and Alex were all looking at the three aliens, and for some reason, all three of the aliens were looking back at them.

This is nuts, she thought. It's like, the Roswell Civil War or something. Aliens, humans, best friends, and whose side is whose?

Her thoughts were interrupted as a spry looking woman in her late sixties busted through the back room doors, dressed in a smart suit.

"My grandbabies!" She yelled, rushing towards them across the diner.

"Grandma Claudia!" The girls yelled in unison, rushing into a group hug, with Alex close behind. Alex was also a particular favorite of Claudia Ortecho's.

"Oh, Liz, you look more and more like Rachel everyday!" She cried, kissing Liz on the cheek.

"And Maria, you hair is so short! How brave of you, I love it!"

"I love this woman." Maria said aloud, turning to speak to Alex. "Face it, the woman's good."

Alex was the next to be hugged. "Oh, Alex, you've grown so much since last year!"

He hugged her back. "Gorgeous as ever, Claudia." He replied, blushing just a little.

Claudia teased him. "And you're still a class above the rest of the boys around here, I bet."

"Totally!" Maria and Liz said in unison.

"You girls are such beauties, just look at you! Alex, have you started carrying around your father's shot gun yet?" Claudia had backed up and was looking the three of them up and down.

Maria could see curious diners watching the spectacle, but around Grandma Claudia, that wasn't particularly unusual, so Maria decided to just go along with it. Figuring she might as well go all out for their audience, she struck a Marilyn Monroe pose. Liz quickly caught on, and suddenly both of them were mugging for the entire diner, while Alex stood there, his arms crossed, grinning and doing his best Hugh Hefner impression.

"Actually, I prefer pepper spray." He said casually, at which both Maria and Liz stopped posing and simultaneously hit him, one on each shoulder.

"What?" he cried, all wide eyed innocence.

"I wouldn't expect any less." Claudia came to his defense.

The four made their way to both near the Czechoslovakians. Maria ended up sitting with her back to Michael, and she swore she could feel him watching them. Watching her?

"Let's eat, I'm starving!" Claudia said "My treat, after all, I get a discount." she said, winking.

Mr. Parker came up to their booth. "What can I get you fine folks?" he asked, with a grin.

They all placed their orders.

"We so glad you're here, Claudia." Alex said. "The girls and I have been going through Grandma Claudia withdrawals."

"How long will you be staying?" Maria asked. They three looked at her intently.

"Well, that's part of what I wanted to speak with the three of you about. Ta-da!" Claudia cried, placing a small blue bound book on the table.

"Lost Treasures by Claudia Ortecho" Alex read aloud. "It's about the Navajo Indians, right?" He said.

She nodded. "I finished it up weeks earlier than I expected, so..." She trailed off as Jeff parker placed their food on the table.

"You have a few weeks off?" Liz asked hopefully.

"Not exactly." Claudia replied. Then she laughed at the fallen expressions of the three teens.

"I will be staying here for several weeks, though, to research my next pieces." She said. The three looked at her in interest.

"I want to do a series of articles, maybe a book on the Mesaliko Indians." Claudia explained.

Maria's eyes lit. "The reservation's only, like, twenty miles east of town." She said.

"Spot On, Maria. Which brings me to my next question? Usually I hire locals to do things like carry my cameras and drive me, I'm not as young as I used to be. And you three are as local as it gets, and it will let me spend time with all of you. I pay well, of course." She added with a smile.

Maria and Alex were bouncing with excitement. Alex's summer job was long over, and Maria's hours were much fewer now that school had started. Liz, however, was frowning.

With a disappointed smile she said. "Mom and dad just made me evening floor manger, even when I'm off, I supposed to be here as much as possible, in case there are any problems. But you two..." She said, looking at Maria and Alex.

They looked at each. "We have school…" Alex started.

"That's not really an issue." Claudia replied. "Most of the people on the Reservation have to work during the day, anyway, so you two can just take turns driving me out in the late afternoon. I have several weeks' worth of interviews lined up."

"Sounds great, when it's Alex's day to take you, I can still take shifts here, so Liz isn't totally abandoned". Actually, it sounded wonderful. Maria actually liked waitressing, because she was a people-person, but what Claudia did was so interesting. Claudia didn't just want to catalogue the Mesaliko Indians, the way some writers would, she would want to find out the stories behind the faces. And Maria and Alex could help.

Maria and Alex shared a grin. "We'd love too!" They said.


	9. Chapter 9

Through The Silvered Glass – Chapter Nine

"Hiding In Plain Sight"

Disclaimer: Not Mine, not mine, not mine.

A/N: Thank you to my reviewers. I had meant to make my chapter a little longer, but I ran out of muse. I hope I at least touched on some of the cliff hangers from the last chapter.

Maria's POV

Maria pulled the jetta into one of the last remaining parking spots. She was running late, once again, but she, Liz and Claudia had all been up late talking. Once again, she had considered staying, but had instead had Claudia drop her off on her way to her hotel. Normally she was here at a pretty decent time because she gave Liz a ride, but Liz was coming in early all week, still prepping for that science competition. And that extra ten minutes she gained from Liz not needing to be picked up had turned into twenty, and the next thing she knew, here she was at school, with not even one cup of coffee to her name. Again.

She walked towards her locker, giving everyone her best under-caffeinated glare of death. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working.

She cheered up when she reached her locker and saw Alex leaning against it with not one, but two cups of coffee.

She loved Alex.

"Mostly milk with a ton of sugar!" He smiled and handed hers to her.

"You are the person I love the most. Coffee is my religion." She replied. "So, are you picking Claudia up to take her to the Reservation today?" She asked as she rummaged one handed through her locker. She knew that stupid notebook was in here somewhere….

"Yeah, I'm picking her up at four, and then we'll probably be back at the crashdown by seven or eight." He replied, reached over her head to neatly pluck her notebook from the top shelf of her locker and hand it to her.

"Thanks." she said as the warning bell rang. "See you later, then." He headed down the hall, and she hurried into homeroom, sliding into an empty seat just as the bell rang. Mrs. Calhoun was fairly low key, and had long since decided that dealing with Maria Deluca decaffeinated wasn't worth the trouble, so Maria knew she wouldn't get in trouble for the coffee, but she still held it down low, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Of course, that all pretty much went to hell when she realized that Michael Guerin was sitting in the seat on the other side of her and she dropped the cup. Michael was leaning back against his seat, eyes closed, and she would have sworn he was asleep.

That is, had he not shot out his hand to catch her cup of coffee right before it hit the floor.

"What are you doing here?" Maria asked in a startled under tone.

"Sleeping. Shut up." He replied, putting her cup back on her desk. He hadn't even opened his eyes!

Michael had home room with her? Had she known that? She turned to look at Liz, who just shrugged helplessly.

She thought about it for a moment.

She was really sure she'd never seen him in homeroom before. Of course, she wasn't sure she had ever seen him before ten a.m. before.

So, technically, he could be in home room with her. Or he could have just picked this homeroom and walked in. She doubted whichever teacher he'd been assigned to would notice when he once again failed to come.

And why was he here? First he's an alien, and now he's an alien in homeroom with her? She took a big gulp of her coffee, glad Alex had had the foresight to let it cool before giving it to her.

She spent homeroom alternating between gulping her coffee at an obscene rate, and pretending she wasn't watching Michael Guerin sleep next to her. Was something of a Czechoslovakian nature going on and no one had told her? And if Ms. Tupolski was really a big bad alien hunter, than why was Michael here? Why pick today of all days to come to class?

Max must have told him not to come, she decided. And, of course, being Michael, he did the exact opposite. That must be it.

The bell rang and she watched as Michael shot out of his seat. He was gone before she and Liz had even finished gathering up their stuff. Again, it was rather impressive because Maria would have sworn he was asleep a moment ago.

She and Liz walked to gym.

"So, why do you think Michael was in class today?" She asked Liz. Liz, however, wasn't paying attention to her, instead she was fiddling with something in her pocket.

"Watcha got, chica?" Maria asked.

"A note from Max" Liz said, a grin breaking across her face.

"You are so bad, Liz! Didn't you agree to have a movie night with Kyle tonight? You are asking for it."

Liz just giggled. Maria couldn't believe Liz was acting like this.

"Alright, so what does Romeo say?" Maria asked, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know, I haven't opened it yet." Liz giggled again.

Maria sighed. Could Liz get anymore melodramatic? Wasn't that Maria's job?

They walked into the girls locker room. Maria watched Liz open the note, scanning it briefly, as her eyes widened. She quickly shut the note, and then re-opened it, as if expecting it to say something different the second time around. Maria couldn't take it anymore.

"What does it say?" Maria asked.

Shutting the note again quickly, Liz looked up at her with wide eyes. "Nothing."

Maria simply raised one eyebrow. If that was how Liz wanted to play it.

"Ok." Maria said calmly. She turned to go to her locker, and started changing into her p.e. uniform. She could see Liz out of the corner of her eye, she was chewing her lip, a torn expression on her face.

Maria grinned inwardly. Maybe she had learned something from all of Alex's chess lessons.

To give Liz credit, they were half-way through gym before she caved. Unfortunately, they were running around the track (which was the default activity for girls in gym when the teacher was bored) when Liz jogged up beside her and leaned over to whisper in Maria's ear, "Max wants me to meet him in the second floor eraser room sixth period."

"What!" Maria stopped so suddenly the two girls jogging behind her nearly ran into her. Liz, on the other suddenly sped up.

Maria was seriously considering committing Liz. Liz was not acting normal. Liz barely ever kissed Kyle, who she was dating, but she was going to meet Max Evans in the eraser room when A. Max was not her boyfriend, and B. Max was another species, life form, whatever.

Chill out chica, she told herself mentally. Liz was circling back around to her. There is no way Liz would do something like that. She wasn't going to do it.

"You're not going do it, right?" Maria said. Liz stayed silent. "LIZ?"

Maria reached out and grabbed her arm. "Do you know what the 2nd floor eraser room means?" She said in an undertone.

Liz continued to jog beside her. "Of course I know what it means..." She looked over at Maria. "What does it mean?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "It's where Greg Coleman gave Marlene Garcia that hickey the size of a softball. It's where Richie Roher and Amanda Lourdes… consummated everything...".

Liz looked at her for a moment, blushing. Then, getting herself under control, she said "Maria, you know what? You're just making this into something it's not!"

Maria was getting worried now. What if kissing an alie- czechoslavakian did something to you?

"Liz, the guy touches you, and you saw into his soul! I mean, is this safe? What if he gets overexcited and like…rearranges your molecules or something? That could happen, couldn't it? You could get hurt! I mean, this is a really, really bad idea, Liz!"

But Liz continued to shrug it off for the rest of class. No matter what argument Maria used, Liz remained determined to see what Max wanted. Maria was just afraid she knew what Max wanted.

As they changed, Maria tried one last desperate argument. "Liz, The Eraser Room does two things: cleans erasers and takes our innocence. Do you know what I mean by "takes our innocence," Liz? The Eraser Room has taken some of the best of us!"

But it was no use. Liz had that stubborn set to her shoulders. Further argument would be pointless.

Walking into the hall together, Maria realized something else.

"Hey, when's the last time you had to use your inhaler? I haven't seen you pull it out in days." Maria said.

Liz seemed surprised for a moment. She said "You know, you're right, I _haven't_ used it in days." She mulled it over.

Maria thought for a moment. "Have they changed your meds recently?"

Liz thought for another moment. "Nope. Weird, huh?"

"When's the last time you used it?" Maria pushed. For as long as she could remember, she'd never seen Liz go more than one or two days without pulling her inhaler out. Whereas Alex's asthma was mostly brought on by extreme physical activity, Liz's triggered fairly easy.

Eyes going wide, Liz whispered " The day of the shooting, like, two hours before."

Maria thought about it. "So, when Max took care of the other issue, do you think he got your asthma too?"

"Well, I'm still taking my daily medicine, I guess it could just finally be working better, or maybe I've finally outgrown it. Alex hardly ever has attacks anymore; he doesn't even take daily meds. He just has a rescue inhaler for in-case stuff." Liz replied.

"You should ask Max about it , Liz, stuff like that is definitely something you guys should be thinking about…..considering…" They are spending quality time together in the eraser room, Maria finished silently.

They parted ways, both heading to their respective math classes.

After geometry, Maria was looking for Liz amid the bustle of students, she wanted to take another stab at convincing Liz what a bad idea the eraser room was before they had lunch with Alex.

She was about to give up when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the room behind her. She stared at him in total shock. She still wasn't used to seeing Michael here at school this early, and she really wasn't expecting him to pull her into the…

She smacked him on the shoulder. "No way! No! Creep!"

He stared at her, frowning.

"What the hell are you hitting me for? Are you mental?" He scowled

"What the hell are you doing dragging me in here Michael Guerin!" She hissed angrily. If he thought for one freaking second that she was gonna…

"Come over here." He said rudely.

She watched incredulously as he shoved some boxes leaning against the wall over. He then leaned forward to look through a vent near the top. What was he doing?

"Well, get over here!" He hissed. "Is that her?"

"Who?" Maria whispered, getting more confused by the second.

"That Tupolski chic! Is that her?" He was watching someone sitting in the room on the other side of the vent, she realized. She relaxed a little. Michael probably didn't even come to school enough to know that the eraser room wasn't exactly used to clean erasers…

She walked over to the wall, looking around. In her bare feet, she was probably six inches shorter than Michael. Even in the low-heeled sandals she was wearing, she felt like he towered over her.

Spying something that might work, she started to lean down to drag the small stack of two by fours over to the vent. There were three or four of them, the janitor probably kept a few up here in order to not have to carry them up a flight of stairs every time he needed one.

She stopped, suddenly realizing that her skirt was a little shorter than she had considered it earlier this morning. She glanced back at Michael. He was still staring through the vent.

Don't be stupid, Deluca, she scolded herself. You're not exactly his type, hell, you're not even his species.

She started to move the boards over. She wasn't big enough to just lift the stack, so she was stuck trying to drag them as quietly as possible.

"Ssshhh! What are you doing…?" Michael's voice trailed off as he looked over at her.

Maria straightened up quickly, blushing. Could this get more embarrassing?

"I can't see! I'm only five foot four, ok?" She hissed defensively.

Michael rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath about short, annoying blonds as he pushed past her to make short work of pulling the boards over to the vent.

Maria stepped out of her heels, and carefully stepped onto the pile of boards. Not the steadiest foot stool, she thought to herself, but as long as she kept her hand on the wall for support….

She leaned forward to look through the grate. It took her a moment to focus her eyes to be able see past the metal. She watched the blond woman moving around, setting up the desk. Moving around some boxes.

"That's her!" Maria confirmed. They watched for a moment longer as Ms. Tupolski took some framed diplomas out of the box. She then said to herself, "Hammer". She walked out of the room.

Maria and Michael both exhaled simultaneously. She turned to face him, and only then realized how close they were both standing to each other. She was still standing on the boards, so she was literally eye to eye with him. They both rocked back in surprise, which in Maria's case, had her bumping into the wall behind her, nearly losing her balance in the process. Michael's hands reached out to steady her. She was ninety-eight percent sure he had meant to catch hold of her arms, but somehow he ended up catching hold of her waist.

"You are the clumsiest human I know!" He growled as he let go of her waist. "Just stay still!"

She looked at him, irritated. "What are we doing here, Michael?" She asked.

"I needed to know if that was her!" He said, annoyed. Maria looked at him.

"Well…" She started, "The fact that she was teaching your geometry class last hour probably should have been a small giveaway!" She pointed out.

He looked at her like she had suddenly started speaking French. "Are you crazy? I didn't go to class last period." He said.

"Then, where were you! You were in home room?" She said. Why did he come to school only to not go to class?

"Max came by this morning. He said she was only subbing a few classes a day. She has third, sixth, and seventh period free, and she is using this classroom as her office". Michael said.

Maria's eyes widened in understanding.

"You guys are spying on her, oh thank god." She sagged against the wall in relief. That was why Max wanted Liz to meet him sixth period!

Michael again gave her what she was beginning to call his "crazy little blond" look.

"Yeah, I got third period, Max took sixth, and Izzy's taking seventh." Michael replied

Maria blew out a breath. "Ok, well, that was her". She confirmed. "But what are you going to do? You can't skip geometry forever!"

Michael shrugged, looking as if the prospect didn't really faze him at all.

"Max saw her talking to the sheriff before school this morning. Liz was right, she's not who she appears to be." He said.

Maria shivered. She knew she had to get over her apprehension concerning the sheriff, but she just wasn't there yet.

She was distracted from her thoughts of the sheriff by a feather light touch on her arm. Surprised, she looked at Michael inquiringly. Had she gone off into Maria la-la land again?

But Michael wasn't even looking at her, he was in fact facing the other way now. OK…

She decided to take advantage of the moment to ask something she had been curious about. "So uh, you really have no idea where you're from, like what planet, or who your people are besides Max and Isabel?"

"Max already told Liz all of this." Michael's voice was missing its usual bite. He was staring with some preoccupation at her arm. Maria followed his line of sight. She couldn't tell what he was looking at. Her arm looked the way it normally did. Pale, thin, with just a few freckles. Nothing unusual about it. Michael's, on the other hand, was much tanner, muscles clearly defined under his black tee shirt...

"So, are you and Liz cousins, or something?" Michael asked suddenly.

Maria was taken aback for a moment. "Ok, random subject change. Umm…no. Why would you think so?" She asked.

"That lady in the diner last night, you were both calling her Grandma." He said. He was still looking at her arm, and as she watched he suddenly reached out and touched her arm with just one finger, as if he thought she might burn him.

"Ok, got an arm fetish or something?" She asked.

He looked up at her with a funny look on his face. "Uhh…no. Sorry. Just checking. So, if you're not related, who's Grandmother is she?

Just checking? Maria sighed. Then she turned her mind back to his question. The subject was so complicated sometimes she couldn't keep up with it.

"Long version or short?" She asked.

"Short." Michael said, and she rolled her eyes. Had she really even needed to ask?

"Claudia Ortecho is Liz's biological, maternal grandmother." Maria said.

"As opposed to Liz's mechanical maternal grandmother?" Michael said sarcastically.

She shrugged "You asked."

He scowled. "Then why do you call her Grandma?" He asked.

"Rachel Ortecho was best friends with my Mom growing up. So she's always been a grandmother to me, also." Maria was getting a little uncomfortable with the conversation. She couldn't really say anything else without getting into Liz's business in a big way. Liz's last name hadn't been Ortecho since kindergarten. People like Alex and Kyle, who had gone to school their whole lives with them, already somewhat knew the story, but she realized Michael, Max and Isabel probably didn't know about Liz's birth mother.

Time to change the subject, quick, she decided.

"So, is this what you've always looked like?" Oh god, had she just said that out loud? Did she want to know if he had once been small, green and slimy?

"Well, I used to be shorter." He said, confused. Maria blushed again. How did he mean that?

Narrowing his eyes at her in realization, he said, "Of course, there was also the third eye!" He turned away.

"Sorry! I'm sorry, ok? It's just… I mean, don't you think it's strange that you guys just happened to crash on the one planet whose dominant species look just like you? And... I'm sorry..."

Michael didn't seem to be listening to her though. In fact, Michael was leaving.

"Michael, stop, ok. I said I'm sorry. It's just weird, ok? I mean, you guys blend in perfectly. You look just like everyone else, except for the hair…anyway. What I meant was, you look like an average sixteen year old guy."

"And aliens are supposed to be three feet tall, green and slimy!" He finished for her.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Michael." Maria said, contritely. She really hadn't.

"I don't have feelings." He stated harshly.

"Then why are you mad at me?" She cried.

Suddenly, Maria heard a noise behind her. She whirled around to look through the grate behind her. She could feel the heat of Michael's body as he came up behind her. He placed his hands on the wall to either side of her in order to lean forward to see around her.

There was maybe an inch of space between them, she thought. Maybe. And why was she so conscious of that fact all of the sudden?

Ms. Tupolski walked in holding a hammer, a strange man coming in behind her.

"OK, I looked though all of them and this is where I wanted to start." She said, shuffling through some files on her desk before selecting one and handing it to the man.

"Michael Guerin. Have you interviewed him yet?" The unknown man asked. He was turned in a way that neither Michael nor Maria could see his face. Something about the man's voice made her shiver, though. It reminded her of the sheriff's voice.

Ms. Tupolski sighed. "He hasn't set foot in school since I've been here. But if Muhammad doesn't come to the mountain..." Maria and Michael both tensed. Maria had leaned even closer to the grate.

"Do you want me to go talk to him?" The man asked. She could hear Michael hiss, as if in pain. If possible, he seemed to tense up even more. Without thinking about it, she had placed her hand on his arm in a silent attempt at comfort.

"No," Ms. Tupolski replied. "I'll do it. Just check and make sure the address is correct."

Maria's other hand had reached up to cover her mouth. She could feel her eyes widening.

"You got it." The man turned to go, followed by Ms. Tupolski.

Maria and Michael both straightened. Maria turned, letting go of Michael's arm so she could face him. His face was tight and impassive again, but she could see his fear in his eyes.

"It's gonna be okay, Michael. We'll…we'll tell max and Liz, and Izzy, and we'll come up with a plan." She would have said just about anything to make the fear in his eyes go away.

It hurt her to see him, or anyone else, for that matter look so scared. And the way he was forcing it down hurt to watch, too. That, more than anything else, gave away how scared he must be all the time. Otherwise he wouldn't be so good at hiding it.

He looked down, scratching his eyebrow, a gesture Maria was coming to recognize.

"That plan come with a passport to Mexico? He laughed humorlessly. "I always knew this place was gonna do me in." His breathing was ragged, and she knew he was pretty much pushed to his limit. They watched each other with wary eyes. She didn't want to leave him like this, but she doubted he would accept any other comfort from her. She swallowed.

"We need to tell the others. You're not alone in this, Michael." She tried.

"Yeah, well, it's my house she's showing up at tonight, Blondie." He scowled at her.

Maria knew he was taking his fear out on her. But for Michael Guerin, he was still holding back.

"Right now, yeah. But it's only a matter of time, Michael. There are other folders in her office, and I have a couple of good bets on whose they are. She said she's starting with you Michael. _Starting_. We got to tell the others. Everyone needs to be warned."

He stared at her for a moment, and she thought he was gonna argue, but then he clenched his jaw and nodded once, tersely.

She breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then the door started to open.

Michael's POV

When Michael heard the door he reacted without hesitation. A strong part of him wanted to simply jump whoever was opening the door. He may not have been human, but he sure as hell had a strong fight or flight response.

But beside him, he could hear Maria gasp softly; she was still standing on the pile of boards. The door was still opening and they were out of time.

Swiftly he grasped her waist with both hands and lifted her down. Again, he noticed how little she seemed in comparison to him. He was stronger than an average sixteen year old human, he knew, as were Max and Isabel, but it still caught him off guard how petite Maria was compared to him. It would be so easy to hurt her…

He instinctively started to push her behind him, he couldn't fight with her in the way, but she was grasping his arms, shaking her head no…

She stepped in closer to him, and at the last second he realized her plan, his eyes widening. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her, still doing his best to turn her behind him. It meant turning his back to the door, which went against his screaming instincts, but if this was gonna work...

Her head was tucked down, practically on his chest, and he leaned his head down so he was watching her. Her eyes were wide, and he could feel her rapid heartbeat, the way her breath moved her chest. She looked up at him, and her eyes were the greenest thing he had ever seen, he could smell her perfume…

"Ms. Deluca!" A woman's voice exclaimed.

They sprang apart, Maria nearly tripping on her shoes, which she had never gotten a chance to put back on. Ms. Tupolski stood before them. Michael unconsciously stepped in front of Maria. It was him she was looking for, well here he was. Maria didn't have anything to do with it. Behind him, Maria was stepping into her shoes, he could see her blushing.

"May I ask what was going on here?" Ms. Tupolski said with a tight smile.

"Cleaning Erasers." Michael said shortly.

"That's not what it looked like from here." The woman commented. She looked closer at Michael, and then she smiled. "You must be Michael Guerin." She said. "Why don't we go to my office, I've been wanting to speak to you."

Michael tensed, ready to make a break for it, but what about Maria?

The question answered itself when Maria pushed in front of him, coming to stand before Tupolski. Michael grabbed a hold of her hand, vainly trying to pull her back without being obvious about it, unwilling to let her get any closer to the woman.

The bell rang.

Students flooded the hall behind Ms. Tupolski.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Tupolski, but I already kinda promised to run Michael home, to pick up his history book, if we don't go right now, though, we'll be late, and Michael really can't afford that, you know…"

She continued on with her babble as she pulled Michael past Ms. Tupolski, out of the eraser room, and down the hall. Surrounded as they were by students, Ms. Tupolski was forced to simply watch them walk away. Suddenly she called out, "I'll speak with you later, Mr. Guerin, and you can count on that!"

The two practically ran to the quad, and it wasn't until they got there that Michael realized they were still holding hands. He let go of her just as they reached Isabel.

Isabel gave him a pointed look as she said "I see Max isn't the only one getting some help with his project."

Michael saw Maria blush and he said, "Shut up, Izzy. Where's Max?"

"Why? What's going on?" She said, finally picking up on their tension.

"I'm gonna grab Liz, where are we meeting?" Maria asked.

"Why would we have a meeting with you?" Isabel asked in her Ice Queen voice.

"The music room?" Maria said to Michael, ignoring Isabel.

"Five minutes." Michael bit off. He didn't like including Liz and Maria anymore than they were, but Maria was right. Ms. Tupolski would probably come after them both at some point, especially after their little show in the eraser room.

Maria hurried off, and he grabbed Izzy's arm. "Ms. Tupolski thinks Maria and I are at my house right now, I don't want her to see me and realize any different, get Max and meet us all in the music room, ok Iz?"

"Michael, what's going on!" Isabel exclaimed.

"Izzy!"

"Alright, Alright." She turned away.

He hurried to the music room, getting there only a moment before Maria and Liz.

Both girls were out of breath.

"Did she see you?" Michael asked.

"No." Maria said, still catching her breath.

"Are you sure!" He asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure, where are-"

At that moment Max and Isabel came in.

"What's going on? Liz, are you ok?" Max said, crossing to where the girls stood. Michael rolled his eyes. Max needed his priorities rearranged.

"Tell us what's going on!" Isabel demanded.

"Tupolski's coming to Michael's house tonight to try and find him!" Maria said quickly.

All eyes in the room turned to look at her. "How do you know that?" Max asked after a second. Maria blushed and Michael shifted uncomfortably.

"I…we…Uhh... Heard her say it." He answered after a second.

"Last period when you were watching her?" Max asked.

Isabel jumped in at that point "We?"

Again, all eyes in the room turned to Maria, who was still blushing.

"I have third period free." She finally said.

Liz was staring at her, mouth agape. Isabel was glaring at Maria also. Max was frowning at Michael.

"It wasn't like that!" Michael defended himself quickly.

"The point is…" Maria interjected, "That Ms. Tupolski was in her office, talking to some strange guy, and the jist of it is, Michael is currently her main objective. Since she hasn't managed to corner him…alone" she glanced briefly at Michael "here at school, she's going to his house, tonight, to try and corner him there."

"Max, what are we gonna do?" Liz asked.

"We aren't going to do anything" Isabel said.

"Maria's said what she thought she needed to say, which we could've heard from Michael, for the record" She turned to glare at Maria for a moment. "And now Michael, Max and I need to talk. So scurry away, little earthlings. Scat. Shoo."

Maria was glaring back at Isabel now, and Liz was biting her lip and looking at Max. Max was looking from Isabel to Liz and frowning.

"I think that may be wishful thinking on our part, Izzy. The sheriff has already made it clear that he suspects Maria and Liz of knowing something, and he was talking to Ms. Tupolski this morning."

Isabel opened her mouth to argue and Michael jumped in "So what's the plan, then, Maxwell? Time to hit the road yet?" He could see Maria watching him, but he refused to look at her.

"Hide in plain sight." Maria said, suddenly.

"What?" the other four asked in unison.

Maria looked at Michael. "Just like earlier. Surround yourself with people. She's undercover, so…"

Max was nodding. "At least until we know what's going on, that's probably the best bet. Michael, instead of going home tonight, stick with Isabel."

Liz interrupted, "Still need more people, Max, Isabel has to be on the watch list too, are your parents home tonight?"

Isabel frowned and shook her head, "Not until about ten or so, it's their date night."

Maria, Michael and Liz all turned to look at her and Max.

"What?" She said defensively. "Trust me, its way better than them being all mushy at home!"

"The Crashdown?" Maria suggested after a moment.

Max nodded. "Perfect, it's busy, public, and it's completely in character."

Michael agreed grudgingly. "But, it's not a long term solution."

"Let's just deal with the most immediate problems first, ok?" Maria said.

They discussed it a bit more, but no one could come with a better solution for the evening, anyway. They all decided Max, Liz and Isabel would watch Ms. Tupolski as originally planned, in hopes of gathering more information.

They all left to go to their fifth period classes when the bell rang.

Michael went through the rest of his classes mechanically, glad none of his teachers actually expected him to respond or pay attention.

After school, he met up with Isabel and Max.

"Anything?" He asked hopefully. He'd die before he admitted it, but he was scared of the outcome of today's spying incident. Suspecting someone was hunting you was one thing, having it confirmed was quite another.


	10. Chapter 10

Through The Silvered Glass- Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: I LOVE MY REVIEWERS. Now that I've gotten that out. Seriously, though, you guys are my candy. So, didn't manage to cover a whole lot of time with this chapter, but some of the characters worked through some stuff that needed to happen. Didn't really think this conversation with Alex would come up this soon, but it evolved that way, so it must be right. Sorry if my Alex and Maria seem a little too whimsical, but I just love them like this. I'll explain it better later, but my Alex and Maria literally grew up in each other's pockets. For all intents and purposes, they can be likened to twins separated at birth. And Kyle came off as a jerk in this chapter I know, but have some sympathy; his mouth ran away with him. He really is a good guy, in fact he's one of my favorite characters, but right now he's in a position where he's kinda stuck as the bad guy. Trust me, though. He's sorry. Also, tried to do some Maria and Liz friendship, because I don't mean for her to be that self-centered all the time, but it's like I can't help it. You guys are right. She sucks, just a little. But since Alex and Maria let her get away with it, it's sorta their fault. Plenty of abandonment issues to go around, huh?

"Creeps & Secrets"

Michael's POV

Michael watched Maria as she dashed between tables, covering nearly the whole floor by herself. Both Liz and Max should have been here an hour ago. He watched Isabel attempt to call Max for the eleventh time since they had gotten to the Crashdown. Annoyance was clear on her features. He was getting antsy himself. He hated waiting around like a sitting duck.

Maria came up to their booth. "Any luck?" She asked. Her cheeks were pink from her recent exertions.

From across the diner a customer called out "I've been waiting for my hot fudge blast off for like, 20 minutes!"

Maria made a face. "Yeah, like he really needs another eighty grams of fat." She muttered. Surprisingly, Michael found himself wanting to laugh, which was totally unlike him. Must be the stress, he decided.

"No!" Isabel was scowling, and Michael quickly decided that laughing would be a bad thing.

Suddenly the door chimed, and Liz and Max came in. Max slid into the seat next the Michael.

Liz and I came up with an idea." Max said.

"What?" Michael said, leaning forward. Any idea had to be better than him just sitting around waiting for Ms. Tupolski to find him!

Suddenly he could here Maria's voice rise above the din.

"Oh, no you don't, Liz Parker. The place is a zoo! You are the _Mighty Floor Manager_, and it is your job to make sure that the masses get their greasy, fatty goodness in a timely matter!"

"We'll tell you what we find out!" Max said. Sliding back out of the booth, he headed for the door as Liz called out "Thanks, Maria, you're the best!"

"Liz! Elizabeth, darn it, wait, Liz!" But it was no good, they were gone, and remaining three were stuck staring at each other.

"Did either of you understand that?" Isabel asked icily.

"You two have been ditched, and I've been abandoned." Maria summarized.

"That's what I got." Michael agreed. He was planning horrible things to do to Max when he returned. Sitting here watching the clock was driving him crazy. If he didn't do something soon, he was going to explode.

Izzy just scowled.

Michael sat there thinking as Isabel worked on her English homework, and Maria tried her best to do her job and Liz's.

Unwillingly, his thoughts went back to earlier in the day, of him and Maria in the eraser room. When he had looked over as she had started pulling the boards over, he'd nearly had a heart attack. Didn't she know how short her skirt was? And it had felt like her perfume had filled the entire space in the small room.

Despite the fact that they had touched repeatedly while in the eraser room, he'd never gotten a flash from her, either. At one point, he had started to touch her arm on purpose, attempting to get a flash, but it hadn't worked. He still hadn't told Max about the flashes, and the way things were going, he doubted he would. His calm logical Max had gone all flaky, and he wanted the old one back. Idly he took one of the napkins and Izzy's extra pen and started doodling on the napkin.

Just then the bell over the door rang again. Automatically, Michael glanced over at the newcomer.

He scowled. Kyle Valenti wasn't the FBI, but that didn't mean Michael had to like him.

He watched as Kyle made his way to the counter, and took a seat.

Maria was still flitting about like a panicked butterfly, but Michael could tell the precise moment she realized Kyle was there. She stiffened, and then to Michael it looked like she cursed softly under her breath.

She walked up to him, and wrote something on her pad. Kyle said something else to her and she frowned and shook her head, and walked away. Michael scowled harder; he couldn't hear their conversation over the noise of the other patrons.

He and Isabel continued to wait as the diner slowly emptied itself. It was now nearing nine o'clock, and Michael, Isabel, Maria, and two old guys in a far booth were the only remaining customers. Plus, Kyle Valenti, of course, who had continued to sit at the counter, staring down Maria, as he periodically attempted to make a call on his mobile phone.

Kyle's attitude was seriously starting to rub Michael the wrong way. On one hand, he could understand the guy's frustration, Liz had obviously stood him up, but he really didn't get what that had to do with Maria. He could tell Maria was bothered by Kyle staring at her, she had gotten more and more tense as the night wore on. It probably didn't help that Kyle looked a great deal like his father, of whom Maria was terrified. Even Isabel was getting upset by it.

"Valenti needs to get over himself." She said, glancing up from her chemistry notes. Michael narrowed his eyes in agreement. He looked down at what he had been doodling on the napkin. A half circle, with one straight side, over and over again. His gut clenched, something about the image, like he almost remembered it….

"Kyle let go of me! I'm sorry, but, _no_, Liz isn't here, and _no_, I don't know where she is, and NO, I STILL DON'T KNOW WHEN SHE'LL BE back!" Michael's head shot up, narrowing in on the two figures at the front counter.

Maria had sounded more angry than frightened. She was leaning against the side of the counter, her hand still holding the dishrag from where she had been wiping down the counter when Kyle grabbed her forearm.

Michael grinned and Isabel started looking distinctly uneasy. Without looking away from him she reached in her purse for her cell phone. "Michael, don't do anything stupid…" She started.

Michael didn't even look at her. Stupid was his specialty, after all, and he'd just narrowed in on a great way to get rid of some of the day's tension.

Smoothly, he slid out of the booth, stalking up behind Kyle silently. Behind him he could hear Isabel dialing her phone, he knew she was calling Max, but he didn't really care. Max should have kept him and Izzy in the loop, Liz shouldn't have abandoned Maria to deal with Kyle, and Kyle really shouldn't pick on girls.

He stood silently behind Kyle, who was a few inches shorter than him, only about two inches taller than Maria. She was still glaring at Kyle and protesting her lack of knowledge about Liz's whereabouts.

"Maria, I'm not stupid, Liz has been acting funny for days, now, and you're her best friend. You can't convince me you don't know anything!" Kyle's voice had a frustrated edge to it that Michael could sympathize with. But he wasn't going to.

"Maybe I can convince you she doesn't know anything." Michael let his voice come from that dark place inside of him, the one he managed to keep locked up most of the time. Most, anyway.

Unfortunately, Kyle didn't take the warning. "Stay out of this Guerin; this has nothing to do with you!" He said, without even fully turning around. Luckily for him, he had let go of Maria's arm when Michael had spoken.

Michael could see Maria's eyes widen as she began to fully appreciate what was about to happen.

"Leave her alone, Valenti." Last warning, Michael thought. Really, he was proud of himself for managing two.

At that point Maria tried to intervene. She came quickly around the corner of the counter and placed herself in the rapidly shrinking space between the two guys. Kyle was facing Michael, now, and they were both going full on glares and Michael had started to flex his fists.

"Michael, thanks but no thanks, I'm a big girl, big enough for _him _anyway!" Maria said, jerking her head in Kyle's direction.

"And Kyle, for the last time, I don't know, and if you give me anymore trouble, I'm gonna go get Liz's dad from upstairs, got it?" She said to Kyle with a glare of her own.

"Don't give me that crap!" Kyle yelled, right in Maria's face.

From there, things got a little confused; Michael lunged forward, but was restrained by Maria who had now been joined by Isabel. Neither girl could have physically stopped him, but he wasn't willing to go over them to hurt Valenti.

At least not until Valenti said "Whatcha do to earn trailer trash's loyalty, huh? Maria?"

Maria and Isabel both gasped, then Isabel slapped Kyle, hard. Before he had a chance to recover from that Michael punched him in the face just as Isabel cried out "Don't you ever call Michael that!"

Kyle's nose was bleeding, and neither Isabel nor Michael seemed like they were finished with him, but at that point Maria bodily pushed past Michael and Isabel, yelling

"Stop it, stop! Everyone, Stop, NOW!" Maria had a pretty powerful voice, Michael thought as he stood there, fists still clenched. He was still ready to remove Valenti's head from his shoulders. No one called him trash to his face and walked away. That first hit was just a warm-up. And as for that comment about Maria…..It was better if he didn't think of that part. Maria had just cleaned up, after all. Isabel still looked slightly feral herself.

Maria turned to them and hissed "His dad is the sheriff! The sheriff!This ends now!"

Then to their astonishment, she grabbed a wad of napkins from the dispenser, shoved them in Kyle's face, and dragged him out the door.

"Is she defending him…?" Isabel started, but stopped when they saw Maria slap Kyle's other cheek through the window, and then say something angrily to him. They had another heated moment of discussion, and then Kyle stormed away. Maria turned her back to the window, and leaned against it.

Both the aliens watched her for a moment. "Let's get out of here, Michael." Isabel said. "My parents are home by now."

But Michael was heading to the door already, because through the window he had seen Maria jerk around quickly and take a step back, looking at something Michael couldn't see from his current viewpoint.

Maria's POV

Maria had had one hell of a night. Liz skipping out of her shift in the middle of the dinner rush had only been the beginning. Despite what she had told Kyle, Liz's parents weren't actually there, they had gone out and would be back long after closing. But Kyle's persistence had finally pushed her to the point of bluffing. Granted, the bluff was unnecessary once Michael punched Kyle.

Maria had stood for about three seconds in frozen fascination. She was a red-blooded female, after all, and that kind of response to a hit to her honor….well. And Michael had a heck of a right hook. She could admit that it had been a thing of beauty. There would be definite bruising. Hell, there might even be broken bones inside Kyle's thick head somewhere. She would like to say that from the very second it occurred she had been nothing but horrified by the violence involved. But that would have been a total lie. So for those first three seconds Maria did an internal, gleeful little victory dance ending in a mental image of herself scoring a touchdown, and then pointing her finger at Kyle and screaming "Showed You!".

Unfortunately, in that fourth second she had crashed back into reality. Kyle was the sheriff's son. The sheriff, who would love nothing more than a reason to cart one of the Czechoslovakians in for questioning. And Michael had just given him a hell of a reason, unless Maria did some definite damage control.

Ignoring the surprised looks on the Czech's faces, she grabbed a handful of napkins for Kyle's nose, shoved them in his face, and drug him outside by the collar of his letter jacket.

Once the door closed behind them she spun towards Kyle.

"Kyle Daniel Valenti, you and I are going to have a serious discussion, right now!" She wasn't yelling. Yet. But for the hell of it she got her own slap in, which must have hurt considering the one Isabel had laid on him a moment ago.

His eyes widened. She was on a roll now. "What, you thought that after going to school with you your whole life I wouldn't know you your full name? Or your favorite color? What about where you live? Did you think I forgot what I gave you for your tenth birthday, when you had that trail riding party at the stables?" Shame was her best bet now, she decided.

"You know what else I remember, Kyle?" She paused, her chest heaving. Tears wouldn't be hard to pull off, after all, she realized. What he had said _had_ hurt her. He continued to stand there silently.

"I remember our first stupid school dance, when we were both thirteen. And that jerk Dale from the grade ahead of us started hassling me, talking about my being white trash and how I didn't even have a dad. And its funny Kyle, because what I remember next is you, punching his lights out. And you stood there and said it didn't matter where you lived, or how many parents you had. And then you said only creeps picked on girls." Yep, there went a tear or two. It didn't hurt that adrenaline from seeing the fight was still coursing through her body, giving her the shakes.

"So, I guess, Kyle, the only thing I don't remember is when you became a creep. Because the Kyle Valenti I grew up with wouldn't have needed Michael Guerin to remind him of his manners. God, Kyle, I know that I'm not part of your little group, but…" She trailed off. Crying outright would be bad because she probably wouldn't stop.

"I'm Sorry." His voice was muffled from the tissue covering his face. She just looked at him.

"I know." Maria said. "I know what people think of me, and my mom. I guess I just never expected to hear it from you." She studied him carefully. He still looked angry, but he also looked slightly mortified. Good. The shame card was all she had to play.

"Why did Guerin come to your defense anyway? It's not exactly in character, is it?" He asked, studying her in a way that reminded her of his father.

"You weren't exactly yourself, either, Kyle, unless of course, you really do think that the only reason somebody would defend me is if I'm putting out for them." Now he barely even looked mad, just ashamed. A part of her wished Liz could like him, he wasn't her type, but he wouldn't have been bad, either.

"I'm outta here." Kyle mumbled.

"Hey Kyle?" He looked at her. "Let's stick to the golden rule from now on. OK?" He nodded once jerkily, and turned and left.

She had just allowed herself to relax for one second against the window when a noise from the direction opposite of the one Kyle had just taken caused her to spin around in surprise and a small degree of fear.

She relaxed when she recognized Alex and Claudia, in the shadows. However from the looks on their faces, they must have witnessed just about everything, first through the window, and then in person when she had dragged Kyle out here.

From behind her she heard the door open, and she knew without looking that it was Michael, followed most likely by Isabel. How she knew she couldn't really explain. It was almost like a sense of heat at her back. But she didn't really feel it with her skin, necessarily, the way a person did with true heat. It was more a simple awareness that it was there. Michael gave off these vibes…

"Hey Alex." She said weakly, as Michael stopped suddenly behind her. She could here Isabel say "crap" really softly under her breath.

"Have a good time tonight?" She tried again. Alex's face looked like a storm cloud, while Claudia's was alight with curiosity.

"What's going on?" Alex said, but was overrun when Claudia said-

"Maria, I don't believe I've met your…knight in shining armor?" Claudia smiled cheekily; completely unaware of the trouble she was stirring up. Immediately all four teens tensed, and Claudia looked from one face to another, confusion evident on her own.

"I'm outta here!" Michael muttered, turning on his heel as Isabel followed without a word. Maria watched as Alex's eyes followed Isabel's exit.

Suddenly his eyes turned back to her. "Since when does Michael Guerin run interference for you, Maria? Or anyone, for that matter?" He asked, his voice deceptively mild.

Suddenly, Maria had had it. Throwing up her arms she cried "Michael is a…I don't know, a friend, I guess, Alex. Is that ok? Yes, I KNOW him! Max and Liz have been hanging out a little, and I and Michael have been thrown together a few times. We're not together, or an item, he didn't steal my car, and he's _not_ running interference for me!" She was now too mad to cry.

"That's not what it looked like from here!" Alex cried. "Maria, Michael went after Kyle for talking to you!" He finished.

"Then I guess you didn't see the part where Kyle grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go?" She snapped back. "And I'm also guessing you missed the part where Kyle implied that I must be sleeping with Michael in order for him to stand up for me? What do you think, Alex? Is there any other reason for somebody to be decent to me?" Whirling around without waiting for a reply, she stalked through the doors to the back, hitting the switches that shut off the outside neon lights. She heard Alex and Claudia come in. Claudia came and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry sweetie; I certainly didn't mean to stir things up. I should have remembered how touchy teenage boys are. I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"

With a nod and a small smile she watched Claudia go out the front doors, Alex locking them behind her. He turned back to her.

"Maria, I..." He started, but she shook her head.

"I don't want to hear it, Alex, I'm just so sick of being in the middle of all this and trying to keep everyone happy. Just leave me alone, OK?" She grabbed the broom and started sweeping furiously.

He came up to her, taking the broom out of her hands and leaning it against the counter. Wrapping his arms around her stiff frame, he said "You should know better than that, by now, babe." After a moment, she gave in and relaxed against him.

He sat her down in a booth and sat across from her. "Now, tell me what happened."

For a moment, she considered brushing the whole incident off, but then she decided it would only make things worse. Alex would know she was lying, and get mad, as well as feel hurt. She would feel bad, not just for lying but because she hadn't gained the relief of telling her best friend. And sharing as much as she could with Alex might go a small way towards easing his frustration over what she couldn't tell him.

"Liz likes Max." She said, finally, ignoring the twinge of guilt at telling Liz's secrets. "She won't even admit it to herself, much less Kyle, but she does. She keeps coming up with these really random reasons to be with him, and every once and a while, I've gotten dragged along.

Alex nodded. "Like the game on Saturday." He supplied. Relieved he understood her meaning, she nodded.

"Exactly, and Max is just as bad. They are both totally into each other, and to be honest, I kinda like them as a couple, but…" she trailed off.

"Why all the secrets and drama?" Alex asked.

"I think Liz is afraid to let go of Kyle, and Max is afraid to make a move, and neither are really sure enough of the other, and she's been swearing me to secrecy…I'm sorry Alex, I wanted to tell you everything, but you know Liz, if she didn't believe I'd keep her secrets one hundred percent, she'd just clam up and try to do everything herself, and she's never felt like this about anyone, from what I can tell, and she's not always using the best judgment…" Again, she ran out of words. Thankfully, this was Alex, who knew her better than anyone.

"And it's Liz, who's one of your best friends, which pretty much means you'd walk off a cliff before you'd let her go through anything alone." He finished for her. She smiled weakly.

"I'm working on her, I really am. She should know that we can tell you anything, but she's scared, and Max is just as private as her, believe it or not, he might be more private, and his sister and Michael aren't too supportive of the idea of them together, from what I can tell, so that's not helping. Just give me some time, ok, Alex?"

He studied her. "What does all this have to do with the shooting at the crashdown, or the car theft at the Crashfest?" he asked.

She stared at him. There was no helping it. "Best Friendship Rule Number Two." She said quietly.

His eyes widened. She couldn't blame him. She'd pretty much just invoked a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, which was almost unheard of in their friendship. Rule number two, in essence, pretty much stated that they loved each other too much to lie to each other, so if they couldn't say the truth, they weren't saying anything. Up until this point, the only things that had really fallen into that category were things like periods and wet dreams. They were pretty much open books with each other. If they never said something to each other, it was because the other already knew, telling wasn't necessary. Like Alex's unspoken crush on Isabel Evans. Maria didn't ask, but she knew. And she knew if she asked, he would admit to it, so she didn't. There wasn't any need to.

"I just wanna know that you're ok, Maria." He said quietly. "So, are you ok?"

She thought about it for a moment. She'd been scared plenty recently, but at the same time… She didn't feel as alone in all of it, as she had thought she would without Alex. She had been dying to tell him, but she hadn't been non-stop terrified, the way she had expected to be, at first.

And Michael was just…she didn't know how to describe it. He was rude, and arrogant, and frustrating, and annoying…and he was willing to beat the hell out of Kyle Valenti. She wasn't foolish enough to think it was all for her, from what she could tell, Michael had been spoiling for a fight for days, and Kyle had simply been too good an opportunity to miss, still...

He hadn't actually hit Kyle until Kyle had made that nasty remark about them.

And even though she didn't think his motives were exactly pure, she realized she wasn't the least surprised by his actions tonight.

Michael might not like her knowing their secret, in fact, she wasn't even sure he liked her at all, really. But from what she could tell, Michael was similar to Alex in some ways.

It was like what she had told Michael about Alex yesterday. Michael seemed to have everyone in his world divided into two groups. The very select few he cared about in any way, shape, or form, and everyone else. And somewhere along the line, she had been moved from the latter category to the former. She wondered if Michael even realized it, yet.

She didn't delude herself, if it came down to Isabel and Max, or her, he'd leave her hanging in a second, she was sure. But, if it was her versus just about anyone else, he would probably do just what he did tonight. He didn't even have to like her; it was just how he was built. She had officially become one of the group, therefore, some degree of protection was extended to her. And he had a hell of a right hook. Gorgeous, really, though she'd die before she'd admit it.

She looked at Alex. "I think…I am as okay as I can be, with everything that is going on. And, I don't know if it's over, or what else is gonna happen, I just know that you are my best friend. And Liz is my other best friend. And right now she really needs me. So, I guess I need you to trust me." She watched him

After a moment or two he nodded. "I trust you, Maria, you know that. I don't like being lied to, though, so, will you tell me everything you can, at least." His voice was small, and she could hear the unwilling hurt in it.

"Yes." She said. She didn't care how much the others got mad, they could jump off a cliff, she wasn't just going to cut Alex out anymore.

"What happened tonight, then?" He asked.

She took a deep breath. "Liz skipped out on her shift, to go and do something with Max, but I don't know what, she didn't stay and explain. Unfortunately, after the dinner rush, she was gonna go catch a movie with Kyle, who she didn't call."

"Who then came here?" Alex prompted.

She nodded. "And waited all night long. He didn't believe me when I said I didn't know where Liz was. Finally, he got so mad he grabbed my arm, and short of making a huge scene…"

"Are you ok, did he hurt you?" Alex asked quickly.

"I'm fine, he wasn't even that rough, it didn't hurt, but Michael and Isabel were here, they were waiting on Max, and Michael decided to go all cave man and solve my problems for me." Maria said.

Alex studied her. "And that doesn't seem a little out of character to you, Maria?" Alex asked.

She sighed. "Alex, I couldn't begin to guess what goes through Michael Guerin's head. But…I really don't think he's as bad as everyone makes him out to be, granted, he totally has it in him, don't get me wrong, I just don't think that's _all_ he has in him, you know? He's always been really protective of Isabel and Max, it's like, legendary how he used to chase boys away from Isabel when they where little. Maybe he's just overprotective of people he's actually gotten to like…know…or speak to?... I don't know. Like I said, it's Michael Guerin. Your guess is as good as mine. But, I'm not scared of him; I don't feel like he would hurt me."

Alex ran his hand through his hair. "Maria, I just don't know about him. There are all kinds of rumors about him, really wild stuff, you know?"

"Alex, I'm not marrying him. But, I'm not gonna let people imply bad things about him for no good reason, either. I mean, honestly, what Kyle said had me ready to hit him!"

Alex leaned forward "What did he say?" She could see anger in his features.

"Michael came up and told him to lay off me, and it went on from there. At one point Kyle might have, sorta, asked how I had earned Michael's loyalty." She winced when she saw Alex's face darken.

"I'm gonna hack into his school records, and erase them. And then I'm gonna re-enter him as Kyla, instead of Kyle…" Alex plotted out loud, lost in angry thoughts.

Maria waved her hands in front of Alex's face. "Alex, Alex! Not necessary, remember, first blood has already been spilled, hell, Alex, Michael hit him, I hit him, jeez, even Isabel hit him."

Alex's eyebrows shot up. "Isabel hit Kyle?" He said in disbelief. Maria nodded.

"Laid a good one on him. Wasn't too happy about him calling Michael trailer trash." Maria said.

Alex frowned. "I can't believe he said that about either of you. Kyle's not my favorite person, but…"

Maria was nodding. "He always seemed like the only one of that group with a soul, right? Well, I don't think he meant it, and if he did, he sure as hell didn't by the time I got down with him. I pulled out all the stops, seriously, he was ready to cry. Of course, so was I!"

They laughed together. Maria was glad she had told him what she did. It wouldn't fix the problem but hopefully, it would help. Alex was just too important to her to do anything else.

"Come on chica." He said. "I'll help you close up shop, ok?"

Together they made quick work of the closing chores. Alex knew the routine as well as Maria.

The next morning, Maria was woken up by Liz jumping onto her bed. Maria peeked out from under her comforter, glancing drowsily at her clock. Six a.m. deciding that nothing Liz could say or do was worth losing her last fifteen minutes of sleep, she pulled the comforter back over her head and snuggled in. She was, after all, the last person in the world to be disturbed by someone jumping on the bed in excitement. Half the time, she was the one doing it.

"I brought cappuccino!" Liz sang out.

Not good enough, Maria decided. Maybe enough to make up for ditching her last night, but not for that and getting up early.

"And triple chocolate chunk cream cheese muffins!" Liz added in her creepy morning person voice.

Maria really wanted that muffin. She looked at the clock. 6:07. She sighed, and without removing the blanket, she stuck her hand out for the cup.

"Be careful it's hot!" Liz sang out. Under the blanket, Maria rolled her eyes. Well, duh'...

She took a sip, immediately burning her tongue and sitting up, the blankets falling wayside.

"I warned you." Liz said complacently as she now sat demurely in Maria's desk chair.

Maria eyed her. "Speak." She said.

"Isabel told Max about Kyle, and he called me, and I am so-so-so sorry, but I cannot believe Michael hit him even if Kyle did…"

"Call me a slut?" Maria asked, her tone brooking no amusement.

"Uhh…yeah. About that, I am totally going to talk to him today, okay? Would you like your apology verbal or written?" Liz asked, trying to get back into Maria's good graces.

Maria thought about it for a minute. "How about sung over the P.A. at school?" She suggested.

Liz made a horrified face. "Maria, have you heard him sing!" And with that, both girls were laughing.

Maria drug herself out of bed and to her closet. What to wear, what to wear? Skirts were proving dangerous, recently. Better go with pants, she decided.

"Hot, hot or really hot?" She asked Liz.

Liz was flipping through a magazine on Maria's desk, idly munching on a muffin. "The weather or your outfit?" She said, without looking out.

"Both, in the order." Maria decided.

"Hot-hot, all around." Liz said decisively.

"Gotcha!" Maria glanced through her options, settling on some dark denim jeans, and a blousy peasant style top, adding a ton of bangles, a sparkly clip for her bangs, and silver hoops for her ears.

She ate her muffin as she played with her hair. Soon it would be long enough to flip out at the ends, which Maria decided would be totally cute. While she liked having one of the shortest hair cuts in school, she had come to the conclusion that long hair was sexier, so she was growing it out. She just wished it didn't take sooo long for hair to grow long. Knowing her, by the time it was finally grown out, she'd be sick of it and chop it off again, restarting the sick twisted cycle over again.

She finished the last of her muffin and cappuccino as she went to her vanity to start on her make-up. Finally caffeinated enough to think straight, she said "Ok, I'm thinking in complete sentences. Dish. Spill. Entertain."

Liz looked up from the magazine.

"Ooohhh, cuteness definitely achieved!" She said, grinning. "Ok, so, last night, Max and I decided to stake out Michael's trailer, to see what happened."

"And…" Maria urged as she applied her eyeliner.

"Nothing, really, she pulled up, asked his foster father where he was, left a card, and took off." Liz said.

Maria frowned in the mirror. Looking around for something appropriate, she grabbed a sweater of the floor next to her feet and threw it at Liz.

"What!" Liz cried as the sweater landed on her head.

"And that took all night, Liz? Hello, fistfight? Abandonment? Doghouse!" She cried, turning to glare at Liz.

Liz looked at her, Maria could tell she wanted to smile but was forcing herself not to.

"Well, we had to make sure she wasn't coming back." Liz said meekly.

Maria just rolled her eyes. Then she grinned evilly. "I told Alex about Max last night." She said, turning back to the mirror to put on her lip gloss.

"What!" Liz shrieked, jumping upright in a heartbeat.

Maria choked; she couldn't hold back the laughter.

"Chill, chica, easy. I told Alex that you and Max liked each other, you were both just to wimpy to do anything about it." Maria was still laughing.

"Maria, how could you, you promised!" Liz said.

Maria turned around. "I didn't break my promise, Liz. All I told him was the reason Max, Michael and Isabel were popping up like daisies everywhere we go, all of a sudden, ok? All I promised was to keep mum about was the Czechoslovakian heritage, and I did. But I never promised to treat Alex like he was stupid, and I won't either, Liz. Pick and choose your battles." She wasn't going to be sorry for it, neither.

Liz sighed, and nodded. "Your right, I know. I'm sorry, I can't help it, I just feel like this whole thing is so out of control."

"Liz, I understand, you need to control stuff, and I get it. But Alex and I… this is the best you are getting, and just this is breaking my heart. I had to invoke rule number two last night, Liz." Maria took a deep breath. She hated to think of the look in Alex's eyes when she point blank refused to tell him.

"I'm sorry, Maria." Liz really did look sorry. Maria knew she was unhappy about it, too. She just had to find a way to make Liz see reason.

Maria nodded. "Let's go to school." She said.

The girls got to school freakishly early, in Maria's opinion. Quickly, she zeroed in on Alex sitting on one of the concrete benches in the quad, an open book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She quickly came up with a game plan.

"I love you Alex." She said, sitting next to her absolute best friend in the world.

"Liz called and said she fed you cappuccino this morning. No, you cannot have the rest of my coffee." He said, without taking his eyes off of his book.

"Coffee drunk before 6:30 doesn't count; you have to start over again at 7:00." Maria said, pouting just a little.

"Maria, cappuccino has three times the caffeine of regular coffee, if I give this to you, you will explode, or die or something, ok?"

She racked her brains. Crap. No real argument there. She probably didn't need any more coffee; she just really, really wanted it.

She slumped down to the ground beside him, grateful she had gone with pants and not a skirt. Laying her head gently on his leg, she let his body take the brunt of her weight.

"Hold me!" She said dramatically. Absently he petted her head between turning pages. She glanced up, reading the title upside down. Dune, she made out after a moment. Good, she knew he had already read that one. No guilt for ruining it then.

"Whatcha reading?" She said.

"Dune." He replied after a moment.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

"That's why I own a copy." He replied.

"Tell me whatsit about?" She let just a touch of whine enter her voice.

He handed her his cup, and she jumped up to stand next to Liz, who was shaking her head at Alex.

"Bad Alex, you know you only encourage her!" Liz scolded.

"For a good cause, Liz, for a good cause." Alex replied.

Maria and Liz had just started in on a technical discussion of which teacher had the ugliest haircut, when a voice behind them suddenly said "Ms. Deluca!"

Maria froze and slowly pivoted. Alex had also stood up to flank her on the side opposite of Liz.

Ms. Tupolski stood before them, looking classy, expensive and nothing like a secret alien hunter.

"I wanted to talk to you about your friend, Michael Guerin." She said.

Beside her, Liz froze, and Maria wasn't much better. "I'm not really that close to Michael, she finally said.

Ms. Tupolski raised an eyebrow. "That's not what it looked like yesterday." She replied. She could see Alex giving her a look out of the corner of her eye.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." The three looked at each other and back at the blond women before them.

"Your friend Michael Guerin is serious jeopardy of being expelled. I'm not really a substitute teacher; I'm the new guidance counselor. I have several questions for Michael. If you care at all about his future, you'll tell him to come see me. We're starting a round of aptitude tests, this afternoon, I'm sure he'll be there, right?"

Maria wasn't even touching that one. Michael and aptitude tests?

"Don't be late for class, kids." Ms. Tupolski said as she walked away.


	11. Chapter 11

Through The Silvered Glass- Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

A/n: Sorry sooo slow. Slight connectivity issues (toddler versus internet modem = chaos)

Yes, super short chapter. But I was happy with this part, it's the next that's giving me problems. Decided to bite the bullet and upload what I have.

"The Future Brings…"

Maria's POV

_The new guidance counselor?_ Maria thought to herself. She considered it for a minute. It would be a legitimate reason for her to be here, and definitely a legitimate reason for her to be interested in Michael. Unfortunately, it would also be just about the best cover story ever. The ultimate reason to dig around in her students lives. No matter who she was, they couldn't afford for her to do any digging around in the Czechoslovakians' lives.

She glanced at Liz, watching as she chewed her lip. Liz looked worried also, so Maria guessed she wasn't being paranoid or anything.

"Guidance Counselor." Alex said under his breath. Her eyes widened and she glanced at him, appraising the speculative look on his face. Crap, she thought, feeling her heart sink to her toes. She had forgotten for a moment about Alex's life-long hatred of shrinks and everything even loosely related. After his Mom died, his dad made him go to this counselor for weeks, and the results were not what anyone hoped. He'd had that poor man running in circles. And she still remembered the career fair during their last year of middle school. If Alex hadn't been such a good student, he probably would've been suspended…..

She eyed Alex warily. A slightly evil grin was breaking across his face.

"Let the games begin." He said, closing his book. "See you later, babe." He leaned in to kiss Maria's temple, and she smiled wanly. "See ya Liz." He sauntered off.

Liz's eyes were wide. Obviously, she too had remembered their second problem in regards to the new "guidance counselor."

"Maria, you have to stop Alex, you can't let him jerk this woman around, what if she's FBI?" She had paled at the mere possibility.

Maria's mind was racing. "Liz, _nothing_ I say will do any good, unless I can give him a good reason." Aliens might be a good enough reason. But with Alex, it might take even more than that. "You _know_ he hates anything to do with that kind of thing. If she pushes him, he'll push back. But …maybe that's a good thing." She trailed off for a few seconds in thought.

After an impatient moment Liz said "What do you mean?"

"Well, any file on Alex is gonna show his…history with this kind of thing. Wouldn't it look funny for him to act out of character now?" Maria was pretty sure that the records Ms. Tupolski had pulled were the on at least the five of them. And even the most elementary of observations would have shown that anything pertaining to Liz, and especially Maria, would almost certainly involve Alex. So if Ms. Tupolski had pulled Alex's records, she had to expect something from him. The very absence of suspicious behavior on his part would be suspicious. They had to keep hiding in plain sight. They had to act normal.

Liz thoughts must have been along the same lines, because a moment later she said "Yeah, so…that means we...just… gotta act like normal too."

"Pretty much." Maria agreed. "You be your usual overachieving self, and I'll just try to not be there, period. When Alex is on the warpath, he's almost as bad as Isabel Evans." She grinned; sometimes it was smile or cry, after all.

"Can you imagine if those two ever joined forces?" Liz said, shaking her head, eyes wide with the possibilities racing through her brain.

Maria pretended to shiver. "I'd rather not."

Liz ran off to do something, most likely to warn Max and Isabel before engaging in another bout of soulful staring with Max. Maria swung by her locker to drop off some of her books, and checked herself out one last time in the mirror hanging inside her locker. She grinned at her reflection. FBI or no FBI, Liz was right.

Cuteness definitely achieved.

She finished the walk to home room alone. She wasn't sure what Alex was up to. Probably checking some medical textbook out of the library about child psychology. Despite how calm she had played it up to Liz, she was worried about Alex.

Chill out, chica, she told herself mentally. Worst case scenario, the new guidance counselor is an alien hunting FBI spy. So, just stay away from her. How hard can it be?

She met back up with Liz at the door to homeroom, Max a step behind her, worry evident on his face. She sighed inwardly. She knew the boy could act better than he was currently; he'd been living with a secret identity for years, for goodness sake!

She let Max and Liz precede her into homeroom, and then started in herself, only to bump into Michael. He'd made a last minute run for the door, and she assumed the reason he didn't see her was because he appeared nine tenths still asleep. They both flew back into the door frame on either side, Maria bumping her head. She grimaced in pain.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She cried at the same time Michael growled "Clumsiest chick ever!"

Her eyes widened. "Hey, you bumped into me!"

"I did not..." Michael started to argue, only to be interrupted by a "Hhmphh" from the center of the class room.

Startled they both turned to the front of the class room to see their homeroom teacher, as well as the entire class, staring at them. And, naturally, standing right next to the teacher was none other than Ms. Tupolski. Beside her she could feel Michael stiffen.

He doesn't know yet, she thought. She turned to him.

Speaking as calmly as she could, she said "So, did Liz and Max tell you that the new _guidance counselor_ wanted to see you later?"

She watched as his eyes flicked from her to Ms. Tupolski in confusion before they widened slightly in understanding. She nodded just the tiniest bit.

Satisfied that he was now on the same page as everyone else, she cut in front of him to walk down the aisle. Max had taken the seat behind Liz, so Maria took the one next to her. Since there was only one other seat available, Michael naturally ended up behind Maria.

She frowned a little. She could practically feel waves of tension coming off of Liz and Max, and Michael felt like a space heater parked behind her…

"Class, this is Ms. Tupolski, the new Guidance counselor for West Roswell High. Ms. Tupolski will be taking you to meet with the rest of the sophomore class in the gym for some aptitude tests. Ms Tupolski?"

Thank you, Mrs. Calhoun. Students, like Mrs. Calhoun just said, in a moment I will be leading you to the gym for some tests. These tests will take most of the day, and all sophomores will be participating. I implore you to take these tests seriously. Along with the group interviews we'll be doing tomorrow, they'll be one of my key resources in getting to know you. Let's proceed to the gym."

The four of them held back, allowing the other students to come between Ms. Tupolski and them. Slowly they followed the rest of their class to the gym, Maria and Liz in front, with Max hovering over Liz protectively, and Michael bringing up the rear. Maria glanced curiously back at Michael. "What are you gonna do, Michael?" She asked.

She watched as Michael glanced around, making sure no one was listening. "Don't worry about it, I got it covered."

Liz interrupted. "She said you were in danger of being suspended!" The way Liz's voice sounded, she managed to make it sound like being suspended was worse than being hunted down by the FBI. Unwillingly, Maria felt herself choking back laughter. She could see a swift moment of humor dance through Max's eyes as well, his lips twitching just slightly.

Michael himself was staring at Liz like she had grown a second head. "You are really messed up, you know that, Liz?"

"SSshhh!" Max shushed them as they entered the gym. Rows of desks had been laid out, and the majority of the sophomore class was already there. Maria spied Alex across the room from them and quickly crossed over to take a seat next to him. Liz following slowly behind her, Max and Michael walking a distance behind her.

"Hey babe." Kyle said suddenly, walking up to Liz and wrapping his arms around her and giving her a kiss on the temple. Maria had to force herself not to laugh at the panicked look on Liz's face, and from behind her see could hear Alex chuckling. Max and Michael were both scowling hostilely at Kyle, reminding her of what had happened last night at the diner. They turned to take seats nearer the back. Maria waved at Liz cheekily as Kyle drug her off to sit with some of his jock friends, turning back to face Alex.

"Alex, I just want to make sure you remember that leading an army of darkness against the new guidance counselor is not only a big moral no-no, but it will probably go on your permanent record, as well. Just bear it in mind, please." She made a point to seem light hearted about it. If Alex picked up on her true apprehension, it would only complicate things.

"Don't worry Maria. I've mended my erring ways. After all, my previous actions against those of the honorable profession of psychology haven't exactly been, subtle, shall we say?" He smiled at her, and her eyes widened. It always freaked her out when her sweet easy going Alex turned into "Dark Alex", as she liked to call it. Sure, every once and a while she might pull a "Mia", but Alex's other side came out so seldom, it was extra creepy when it happened. Like she had told Michael, it was just that stupid two-percent…

"Good morning, everyone, I'm Ms. Tupolski, your new guidance counselor. What will the future bring? In ancient times man looked to the heavens to answer this question. Today our methods are a little more scientific, more personal. What will the future bring for you? As the millennium nears all eyes are on you. There are so many opportunities out there for young people today, and I want to help you discover exactly what's right for you. Because the most important ingredient for success is always preparation. You can't become something until you can dream it first. What will the future bring for you?"

Maria leaned over to Alex and whispered "Let me just make it easy for her." She pointed to herself "Tasty Freeze," She pointed to a girl two rows up "Denny's," she pointed to the guy directly in front of them "Gas World," and then, jacking her thumb towards Michael, she smirked and said "Prison." She could see Alex's eyes smiling. They both faced front again.

Ms. Tupolski said "That's where I come in, getting to know your dreams. So over the next few days you will all be coming in here for some aptitude tests and for some group interviews. A series of questions which will indicate where your strengths lie. And as you know, I'm new here, so most importantly this will give me a chance to find out who you are."

Famous last words, Maria thought to herself.

She looked down at the multiple choice questionnaire that had been passed down the row to her. All around her students were obediently bending their heads down to study the questions. Could this get any more lame? She could see Liz a few aisles over, the tip of her tongue stuck out just a tiny bit, as if she was worried about choosing the right answers.

Beside her, Kyle had a slight frown on his face. Either the words were too many syllables for him, or he was trying to figure out the answers absolutely guaranteed to suggest anything _but_ a career in law enforcement.

Isabel was carelessly answering, a look of disdain on her face, though Maria would bet ten dollars that any answer Isabel selected would have a perfectly filled in circle, completely inside the lines, a nice even black. Beside her, Max had a worried look on his face, and she could mentally hear him ask himself "would an alien pick a or b? Would c look more suspicious, or d?"

Michael was a surprise; he was filling in his questionnaire with a deep look of concentration. Feeling a little freaked out, she turned to study her best friend, but the slightly maniacal look in his eyes didn't reassure her either.

She looked down at her own sheet. She had only filled in the top question, and she had selected c. Maybe she could just put all c's? Or was that one of those pre-requisites for a potential serial killer, like bed-wetting and playing with matches?

Hesitantly she filled the next one in, randomly choosing b. She didn't even bother to read the questions. If she answered anything definitively, and the woman actually tried to speak to her about, Alex would totally freak out over the shrink trying to "examine her" as he viewed it. Seriously, the guy had a complex.

Of course, he wasn't the only one who would freak out. Liz and Max would freak out (cute little matching freak outs, most likely) too. And Michael would scowl, and Isabel would just arch one perfect eyebrow.

She sighed. Better to make the whole thing just as random as possible. She selected c again for the next answer. Narrowing her eyes, she tilted her head a little, when she looked at the paper at this angle it reminded her a little of a musical score. Grinning broader, she turned her page all the way on its side and started filling in the opening notes of "Oil and Water", a song she had started to compose in middle school with their friend Billy, who had moved right before freshman year.

Michaels POV

Michael had decided that not only was the FBI was after him, but that there was no Geneva Convention Regulations regarding teenage aliens and cruel and unusual treatment. It was the only possible explanation for what was happening.

"_How do you prefer to spend your free time?_

_With a good book_

_With your best friends_

_Volunteering at a local charity_

_Working at a part time job_

Are you kidding? He thought to himself. Could this get any more lame? He looked over at his best friend, and rolled his eyes. Was Max actually sweating? At least Isabel looked as bored as he felt.

He glanced over at Liz sitting with Kyle and the rest of the jock squad. Jesus, SHE was sweating too! She and Max were disgustingly perfect for each other. He looked over at Maria, sitting next to the ever present Alex. Alex had a strange look on his face, studying him for a moment; Michael decided it was actually kind of creepy. Maria was simply staring at the questionnaire in a mild form of disbelief.

He glanced down at his own sheet. Just do it Mickey, he chided himself mentally. So he picked up his pen, and started marking answers randomly. Slowly a wave pattern started to emerge.

Suddenly, looking at the undulating pattern on his page made him think about the flash he had gotten from the key in the Sheriff's office. He stared harder. Yes, a curve, just like that. Over and over again, he filled in his questionnaire with a series of semicircles.

Thirty minutes later, he sat back in satisfaction. Ten pages of semi-circles lay before him.

Just then the bell rang, and as one the entire sophomore class shot out of their seats, handing there forms to Ms. Tupolski as they filed out the door. No one seemed eager to stay.

Ms. Tupolski was saying "You all will be coming back fifth and sixth period for some presentations I have prepared, I expect everyone to attend." Naturally, her eyes were on Michael as she said this. He scowled. Just kill me already, he thought.

He and Max had again managed to be walking right behind Maria and Alex. Michael watched with amusement as Alex made it a point to stand between Ms. Tupolski and Maria, even going so far as to take Maria's questionnaire out of her hands and give it to Ms. Tupolski himself.

What is that about? Michael asked himself. He's acting like he knows something's wrong with her. Had Maria told him? But why was he looking at Ms. Tupolski like she was the enemy, instead of Michael, Max and Isabel? What was going on?

He studied the look on Maria's face; she was watching Alex with a mixture of amusement and concern. She didn't seem the least bit frightened though, and again, Michael had to laud her acting ability. She shook her head a little at Alex, pursing her lips in exasperation.

He watched as they walked away, joined by Liz as they wandered in the direction of their next class.

An hour later, Michael studied Alex and Maria during their free third period. Maria was sitting at the table, working intently on whatever it was she was writing. Alex was sitting on the ground next to her, his long legs stretched out in front of him, a guitar in his hands, idly tuning it.

Watching her, his thoughts went back to the night before, and he idly flexed his fist. Had he been human, that morons hard head would probably have hurt his hand. He still got angry when he thought of Valenti's words. No one, NO ONE called him trailer trash. As for what he had said to Maria….. Michael shook his head. Maria had demonstrated amply that she was able to defend herself on that score. And even if she couldn't, what was that to him, anyway? It wasn't like he cared about her, or anything.

It was just…she had kept their secret. Defended them against Valenti and Tupolski. She was lying to her best friend.

Grudgingly he acknowledged that they did owe her, however much he didn't like it. Perhaps this unfamiliar, tight feeling in his chest was just that. Gratitude. Unwanted, unwilling, but there none the less.

He and Max suffered through the "presentations" Ms. Tupolski had put together later that afternoon. It was actually a rather nice nap, as Michael hadn't gotten a ton of sleep the night before. He had been so worked up over Tupolski and Valenti that he had sat at Max's desk most of the night drawing semi-circles.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, so…here is Chapter 12.

Chapter 12 is special because it has been especially devoted to my MOST FAITHFUL REVIEWER- RhondaAnn1.

Chica, not only were you my very first reviewer, but you have faithfully reviewed every chapter after. And not just "I loved it" (I love all my reviews, even these, but longer is just more reassuring), but they were detailed ones, which showed what you liked, and let me know the story was coming across the way I hoped.

Also, ValentineBabe, thank you for reminding me about Michael's home life, it is important, as is Maria's.

So, here is a little Michael back story, in honor of both of you. Hope you like it!

Chapter 12 " Random Questions, Broken Answers"

That afternoon Michael had Max drop him off at the trailer park after school. Max was silent on the drive, which wasn't to unusual, but it was a loaded silence, weighted with as-of-yet unsaid words. Michael simply waited. Max could at times be inevitable.

When they got to the entrance of the trailer park, Michael said "See ya, Maxwell", as he hopped over the side of the jeep.

"Michael, you know you're welcome to eat dinner at our house. I mean, Mom probably already has your place on the table. We could, uh, go to the crashdown for some Men in Blackberry pie, later..."

Michael gave Max a hard look, and Max flushed a little, a crooked grin breaking across his face. He half shrugged, as if to say "what?"

Michael rolled his eyes.

"No, it's cool man. I'll just meet you there." Ever the babysitter, he thought to himself, trying to pretend it actually bothered him.

Max started to protest again-

"Are you sure, really, my parents don't mind..." but Michael cut him off.

"Seriously, Max, it's cool. This is where I live, you know."

He waited while Max came around to his real point. Michael was always the more direct of the two. Max took his time. Except apparently when his lifelong crush was lying shot in a diner.

With a small start, Michael realized he wasn't even really mad about it anymore, which astounded him. He should be furious, after all. Max had endangered the three of them, broken a ten year old pact, and exposed them to Maria and Liz.

But somewhere along the line, the two girls had ceased to be…well, not an annoyance, they were still annoying, but, they were no longer a cause of panic.

Michael met Max's eyes. They were serious, as they usually were.

"Michael..." He trailed off awkwardly, and Michael fidgeted, but waited. Whereas he or most males of their age would dodge any emotional conversation quicker than a speeding bullet, Michael knew Max would follow it through to the end. It was Max, after all.

"I'm sorry." Max said finally. Michael scrunched up his brow in confusion.

"For what?" he asked, looking over Max's shoulder instead of meeting his gaze.

"I never really thought about...how it is for you, here, with Hank."

Michael scratched his eyebrow uncomfortably. What the hell had brought this up?

"Where's this coming from, man?" he finally asked, still not meeting Max's eyes.

"Last night, when Liz and I were staking out the trailer, waiting for Ms. Tupolski, Liz asked about how we three got separated..."

"And how you and Iz ended up in Pleasantville and I ended up here?" Michael supplied for him.

Max nodded. Michael took a deep breath.

"You know, I used to be so jealous of you, Max. Of you, cause, you had parents, a home, Iz, everything. But lately, with all that's happened, I've realized that it's really a good thing. Hank and all."

He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying not to show how off-guard this conversation had caught him.

Max's face showed his confusion. "I don't get it."

"When the day comes to walk away from all of this, Max, it's gonna hurt you and Izzy, _bad_. Real bad. And Me? I'm just waiting for the day. Not to see you guys hurt, but to find our real home. Cause whether or not you like to think about it, it's inevitable. So, maybe it's better this way."

He managed to hold Max's eyes for a long moment, and then it was his turn to shrug.

He turned and walked around the corner or the gate. He waited until he heard the sound of the jeep before he made his way further into the trailer park.

He waved to his neighbor, Mrs. Gonzalez. Her two kids, Marta and Tomas, were playing tag, winding in and out of her legs and the laundry she was attempting to hang, as she laughed and scolded them.

"Hola Michael!" Marta called out, running up to the short fence that encircled her yard.

"When are you going to come play with us again?" Tomas cried, coming to a stop so abrupt Michael's hands shot out half way on their own accord, expecting to have to stop the boy from tumbling head first over the fence. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Good Afternoon, Michael" Inez Gonzalez spoke in her careful and precise English as she came to stand next to the fence. "The children have been asking for you non-stop since you came last. They had very much fun, thanks to you."

"Don't worry about it, you knew I needed the money anyway."

Michael did his best to brush off her praise. It made him uncomfortable. He hadn't wanted to take her money in the first place, but he had been working slowly but surely for years on his growing stash of escape money.

He had done odd jobs, weeding, helping with pets, moving furniture, even babysitting for years now. He hadn't been in a position to refuse.

When Mrs. Gonzalez had qualified for a grant at the community college to better her spoken and written English, with the hopes of someday being able to get a job and license, she had approached him, hesitantly, about watching the children one night a week. He had been able to see the reluctance on her face, and he didn't blame her. After all, he didn't look like someone who would be good with kids.

However, several weeks later she was now much more comfortable with him. In fact, when her old man wasn't around, he often helped her around her house. Jorge Gonzalez was drinking buddies with Hank some nights, and they had gotten into a routine of sorts, surviving the bad moods of the two men. It wasn't unusual for Michael to escape over to the Gonzalez's home or for the kids to come knocking on Michael's window when their father was in a "mood".

"Michael, my next class is on Monday at five-thirty, are you available?" Inez asked.

"Sure thing, Mrs. Gonzalez, I'll see you guys then!" With a wave two the kids, he headed further into the trailer park, slowing as he reached his "home". He opened the door as quietly as possible, but it was unnecessary, Hank was already passed out in his recliner.

It was just another night in the Guerin home.

Maria's POV

Maria reached the diner just a little after four. She had arranged to meet Claudia there. She was looking forward to spending the time with Claudia, and more than a little curious about the reservation. Her Mom, Amy was an activist, but she wasn't one of those pushy people who thought they knew what was best for those she claimed to be helping. Above all, she respected the dignity of others, and often that meant respecting their privacy.

"Maria, your fashion sense is just so urban, I can hardly believe you grew up here in Roswell, you could easily take a stroll in New York in that outfit" Claudia said, getting into the jetta.

"New York, New York" Maria sang out as she started the engine. She followed Claudia's directions out to the reservation, she had a general sense of the location, but having never been there in specific, she was forced to rely on Claudia, at least until she learned the route.

"So, um, are there, ahh, any customs or anything I should know about…" Maria trailed off, wondering how to tactfully say what she meant.

"Is there any way to screw this up?" Claudia asked wryly, with a grin.

"Yup, pretty much" Maria concurred. Leave it to Claudia to cut right to the chase.

"Maria, just treat them with respect. Most speak at least some English. There are an intelligent people with a rich cultural history. They also have a sense of humor. Be yourself." Claudia reassured her, and Maria grinned back.

They pulled up in front of what looked like a slightly run down general store. There were tables set up on the front porch with an exotic array of jewelry spread across it. A young man maybe a year older than Maria was leaning against the porch rail, he straightened up when he saw Claudia get out of the car, Maria had to bite back a grin, Claudia had that effect on people.

"Hello, Mrs. Ortecho." The young man greeted her, with a curious look at Maria.

"Eddy, Eddy!" Claudia scolded, shaking her finger at him,

"I told you to call me Claudia; it will be at least another twenty years before I'm ready to be called Mrs. Ortecho. Eddy, this is my granddaughter, Maria. Maria, this young man is Eddy, his grandfather, River Dog, is one of the spiritual leaders on the reservation. I'll be doing several interviews with Riverdog, before moving on to some others I've lined up.

"Hey Maria, nice to meetcha, you Alex's friend?" Eddy said to her as she joined him on the porch.

"One of them, he has, like, at least three, you know!" She joked.

Eddy grinned back at her. Claudia had gone inside the small house to sit with Riverdog.

"You wanna look around?" Eddy asked her.

"Sure, if you don't mind. I've never been out here." Maria replied.

They strolled around the reservation, Maria drinking in the sights.

"Do they have a school out here?" She asked.

"Yeah, a small elementary school. Middle school and high school gets bussed into Arden, it's only seventeen miles north of here." Eddy replied.

Maria nodded. "We played them at homecoming." She replied.

"You guys kicked our butts". Eddy said laughing. "But just wait until basketball season starts, maybe white boys can't jump, but this Indian sure can!" They both laughed.

"My friend Liz's boyfriend Kyle is on _both_ teams, and it's about time someone kicked his." Maria said, without thinking.

"Bad blood?" Eddy asked, eyebrows raised.

Maria nodded thinking back to the night at the diner. "Something like that. Let's just go with…complicated." She amended.

"Liz…Alex mentioned her. The science whiz?" Eddy asked.

Maria whistled. "Liz the science whiz is about right. She's great at all of it, but she _really_ loves science."

Eddy nodded. "So does Serena, my younger sister. In fact, that's where she is right now, a science club meeting at school. Alex thought they'd get along pretty well."

Claudia had Maria drop her off at the diner that night after she had finished her session with Riverdog. Surprisingly, Maria had had a ton of fun hanging out with Eddy, who reminded her a little of Alex, though with a few key differences she had decided to keep to herself.

Michael's POV

Thursday morning had Michael sitting in yet another presentation. He had pretty much decided that one way or another, Tupolski was part of some kind of conspiracy. Either she really was a secret alien hunter, or she and every other teacher in the school had conspired to never have to actually have to hold sophomore level courses again.

How much longer could this go on?

He wouldn't have come at all but he had decided that an enemy in his sight was better than one sneaking behind his back. One more sappy paragraph about his bright future, though and all bets were _off_. Perhaps it was a ploy to make him turn himself in…

Right before Ms. Tupolski dismissed them all for lunch, she read all the sophomores names off in groups of eight.

Lastly, she called-

"Isabelle Evans…Max Evans….Alex Whitman…Elizabeth Parker….Maria Deluca…Kyle Valenti…Michael Guerin…..Your group session will be the last one of the day, Please be back here by two o'clock".

Only seven in the last group, huh? He thought to himself. This was not good at all.

Two o'clock found Michael slouched in a folding chair, a circle of identical chairs forming a circle around him. Isabel had taken the seat next two him, Liz and Max taking the seats to his left. Kyle took the seat next to Liz, and Michael let himself enjoy the panicked look on her face for a moment. Nice to see someone else squirm, he thought.

Alex and Maria came in next and Michael watched the play of emotions run across Alex's face as he looked at the two remaining open seats, between Ms. Tupolski's chair and Valenti's. Finally swallowing, he took the seat next to Ms. Tupolski, and Maria sat down next to Kyle.

Right across from Michael.

Maria's POV

"All right now everyone." Ms. Tupolski began, "What I have here is the results from your aptitude tests, and I would like to began by having us go around in a circle and tell me what your dream job is."

"Isabel?"

"Supermodel."

"And you, Max?"

"Well, I guess I never have thought that far ahead, I guess. It's a long way off." Max said with a shrug.

"Michael?"

"Lead guitarist for Metallica." He said with a smirk.

Maria rolled her eyes. She was in hell.

"Liz, what's your dream job."

Liz answered promptly "Molecular biologist….or dream dream DREAM job would be head of molecular biology at Harvard." she finished, smiling for all the world like she was the last child standing at the school spelling bee. Which, Maria reflected, she HAD been in fifth grade…

"What about you, Kyle?"

"Quarterback for the Houston Astros." He said with his trademark grin.

"Maria, how about you?"

What am I, in kindergarten? Maria thought to herself. "Like I have any skills….?" she deadpanned with one lifted eyebrow.

Suddenly, Alex turned to Ms. Tupolski.

"That's such an interesting question, Ms. Tupolski. What did you want to be?" He asked, smiling inquiringly. Maria slouched down lower. Any minute now, she was gonna be eye to eye with Michael.

Ms. Tupolski looked taken aback. "Well, I…wanted to do just what I am doing." she finished, her smile firmly back in place.

She straightened, facing the group once more. "Now, tell me what you think you will actually be doing in ten years."

Isabel managed to look down at her. "I usually get what I want." she answered, all ice queen.

Max shrugged. "Still don't know." He said with a sheepish smile.

Liz just looked at her in confusion. "Uhh, molecular biologist" She said it slower this time, as if perhaps she had confused Ms. Tupolski the first time she had said it. Maria stifled a laugh.

This time it was Kyle who dead panned. "Quarterback for the Houston A-s-t-r-o-s". He drew the last word out, nodding her heard a little, encouraginhly as if he, too, thought Ms. Tupolski was simply confused, and not being completely facetious.

Maria grinned a little. She had forgotten that Kyle had a sense of humor. He used it so seldom when he was hanging out with the jock squad.

Maria?" She had to fight the urge to giggle, a part of her wanting to say "What, you think I have developed job skills in the last three minutes since you asked me?"

Instead, she rolled her eyes and said, "Well, I mean, gosh, ten years is like, a _long_ time. We could be DEAD by then!"

Alex said "Excellent follow up question!"

Maria could see faint lines of frustration etch themselves into Ms. Tupolski's face.

"Let's play a role playing game" She said, pulling out some pictures. Almost as one, they all groaned, except for Alex, who was still smiling helpfully.

Forty minutes later, the group discussion was winding down. They were all mostly quiet, except for Kyle, who was still occasionally muttering things like "a cop, are you freaking kidding me?" under his breath.

Ms. Tupolski said "Now, I'm sure you have all noticed that this focus group is a little smaller than the others. I chose you all especially, because I feel like you all have something in common. Your teenage years can be very frustrating and it can be very easy to feel like you are all alone, that you are dealing with something no one else has dealt with before, that no one else will understand. But I wanted you seven to understand that you weren't alone, that you weren't as singular as you might believe."

Maria could see uneasy looks pass among the five of them. Even Kyle and Alex looked suspicious.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked bluntly,

"I grouped you seven together because the seven of you all come from, well, let's just say, NON-traditional homes." Her eyes dancing from one teenager to another, quickly, gauging their various reactions.

Maria could swear the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. All the teenagers had stiffened in the seats, unease, confusion and even hostility evident in their faces.

"Congratulations guys, we're the kids from the broken homes. Wanna start a support group?" Maria said. She hadn't meant to let the woman get to her like that, but she couldn't help it, it had just come out-

"There is nothing broken about our home." Isabel said defensively.

There's nothing wrong with my home, or Liz's, or Maria's." Alex said coolly. He turned to Kyle.

"How about it, Kyle, you wanna chat about our broken homes?"

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" Kyle said, looking steadily at Ms. Tupolski.

Well, that figures, Maria thought to herself. It took an alien hunting psychologist to get Kyle and Alex to see things the same way. It was official. Her world was now completely upside-down.

Liz had said nothing, instead getting that very still, very small look on her face. Maria hurt just looking at her. Everyone in town knew about Maria's dad ditching her and her mom. But Liz hadn't even been born technically when her mom had been in that car crash. She had never known any other mother than Stephanie Grisholm-Parker.

Bad move, lady, Maria thought, moving her eyes to Tupolski's for the first time in nearly an hour. I don't know how they train alien hunters, but declaring open warfare against her opponents couldn't have been wise.

Maria squinted her eyes. So, why had the woman done it, then?

It was Isabel who answered the question, by way of her own question to Ms. Tupolski.

"Besides, that doesn't even make any sense. Liz's home is as traditional as any; I've seen her parents at the crashdown. And…." Isabel trailed off uncertainly, watching the tightening faces of the four humans.

She wants to know how open we are with each other, Maria realized. She wants to know who is left out of what loop so she can try to take advantage of it. THAT WITCH-

The rest of Maria's less than nice thought was suddenly cut off by the bell ending the final period of the day.

They all surged up in almost perfect synchronization, aiming for the door, when Ms. Tupolski called out- "Just a moment please!"

She shuffled some paperwork she had taken out of the briefcase by her chair. Scanning them quickly, she said, Max, Isabel...Michael, you three are free to go. I'm afraid….She turned to face the humans "I have a few more things for you to do before you go."

Maria and Liz froze instantly, Maria's eyes darting from Liz, to Michael, to Alex, To Max (Back to Michael).

Oh, snap! Maria thought. What now?

"I gotta get to practice!" Kyle complained as Maria watched the three aliens leave the room, almost reluctantly it seemed, from the corner of her eye.

"The nurse caught me this morning coming into my office." Ms. Tupolski explained. "She wanted me to administer your 'Project Abraham' profiles. I'll admit, I've never heard of 'Project Abraham' before…."

Maria tuned her out, inwardly sighing in relief. She should have realized it would be time to update her Abraham Profile, she did it every year at this time. She had forgotten, too, that the four of them were the only sophomore subjects in West Roswell High. Apparently, learning about bad mannered alien life did that to one…

She tuned back in to hear Ms. Tupolski ask the room in general "I don't suppose any of you would care to enlighten me on the subject." She ended it with a smile, like "oh, come on, we're all friends here!"

The four of them shared another awkward look.

Finally, Liz started "Umm, well, you see…" She trailed off, looking a little lost.

"Our parents all signed this confidentiality thing…." Kyle added.

"So, our hands are kinda tied." Maria finished.

Ms. Tupolski sighed. "Of course, I understand. Well, you kids certainly seem to know more than I do, it seems. Go ahead and fill out your forms. They've already filled out your general information at the top."

Maria took hers and sat back down. The questionnaire was a mix of old and new; old questions, new questions, seemingly random, out of place questions, and then suddenly back to a question it had already asked before.

Maria shook her head. Did they think she would lie to them? What would be the point? It wasn't like her family could afford to make the 'Project Abraham' people angry….

Sighing, she started to fill in the answers, making an effort she hadn't bothered to on Ms. Tupolski's tests.

_When was your last asthma attack? Describe its intensity, and list its symptoms._

"Ten years ago, in August…"

Michael's POV

Michael had so much pent up energy he was almost humming with it. He stood as still as he could make himself, tucked behind the classroom door, out of sight of its occupants, but not out of earshot.

Just what exactly was the 'Abraham Project'?

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	13. Silver Strands : Prologue

Okay.

Please don't hate me. I know I have been away for an insanely long time. I haven't died.

But my son did start Kindergarten. (He is, to quote "a really REALLY big boy!" now.)

Not to mention that whole friends/family/work thing I do when I'm not writing, lol.

But I am back. Sorta.

As many of my readers know, I am juggling two fics now.

In reality, it's really three.

See, the more of Silver Glass (which, FYI, I call my Silverfic) I wrote, the more the story seemed to come to life. Questions started bothering me. Why did the Evans fight so hard for Iz and Max? Why did Cal abandon the hybrids? Why did some have powers the others didn't? Ect.,

In time, in my own mind I started to create a back story, of all the events leading up to the shooting that day in the CD. Eventually I accepted the fact that my writing would suffer for it, because the events were so firmly established in my own mind that I sometimes failed to be sufficiently clear in my own writing. The story simply was incomplete unless you, the readers knew what I knew.

And so, Silver Strands was born.

Silver Strands is, in short, cameos from the many viewpoints of all the other players, the moments in time that lead up to the fateful day that Liz was shot.

Granted, Silverfic on its own contains a hefty amount of memories and flashbacks. But Silver Strands will give you first hand cameos from characters that will never feature in Silverfic first person. It will round out the story, and allow me to give you my take on some of those questions without having to rudely interrupt the flow of Silverfic. Silver Strands will be a story imbedded inside of Silverfic. The idea is that for every few chapters from here on out of Silverfic, I will publish one chapter of silver strands. Silverfic's chapters will be numbered and have titles. After the prologue, Silver Strands titles will always clearly state "Silver Strands" and then dated entries. I will do everything in my power to let you, the readers, know when a chapter is a Silver Strands chapter. I also have to juggle the two so that they foreshadow each other without spoiling each other.

Crazy, I know. To help the readers follow my reasoning, this is how it will work.

What follows is the very first chapter of Silver Strands, which is actually the Prologue. It is actually narrated first hand by a "real time Maria", sorta like the last few episodes of the second season. The prologue gives you a big chunk of Antarian history in one fell swoop. After this, all chapters of Silver strands will be dated cameos from other characters. They will be in order by date, using Earth's years as reference (I wasn't really up to establishing an Antarian Calendar.) Also, I know in the show Larek makes some references to his own planet with his own names, ect.

Forget it. Sometimes you just gotta let it go.

Silver Strands will give you needed information, hopefully in surprising ways. For instance, I will not write the scene where the Evan's discover Max and Iz.

I will, however, present the scene where Diane Evan's learns she will never be able to bear a child.

Because to me, that is the reason why they kept two strange children alone in the desert.

In Silver Strands, I hope to give you the information you need to understand the motivations of some of the other characters.

P.S. Please don't hate me.

I have to finish writing Silver Strands before I can go any further of Silverfic. I am creating the past, and that foundation must be laid before I can write the future.

p.p.s. This is the history only of Silverfic, not Vengeance in Violet. I know I took some creative liberties, and got kinda sci-fi even for my own tastes. But writing is sort of an organic thing. It lives and grows.

This is what grew.

As Always

EverReader

Disclaimer: Actually, a lot of this is mine. But not what it is based on, the characters, the later events, the premise as a whole. Soooo- NOT MINE

Silver Strands: Prologue

(Maria Narrating)

Okay, so this all happened a really long time ago. And I don't mean the sixties. I mean, so long ago that it's not even history anymore, it's like, legends and fairy tales, the kind you tell kids at night. Like our tales of Atlantis. And I'm not even supposed to talk about it.

Ever.

Soooo, I'm not.

I just happen to be bored right now, and since you're here….

Well. Hhhmmmm.

How about a bedtime story?

Well, since you insist.

Once, all five planets of the Zamornene galaxy had possessed Gifted of their own, descendants of the First people, the ones who had come to this solar system using the Granolith. (Yeah. I know. Darn thing just seems to cause problems wherever it goes.) They had spread to the five planets, intermingling with the native peoples, and passing their gifts along to them.

Now, the native people had already had gifts of their own, of course, like the ability to redirect energy, and to manipulate matter on a small basis using only the power of their minds. Some could even heal small injuries. So, these gifts they referred to as the "original gifts", the birthright of every being born in the Zamornene Galaxy. Now, some were better at one thing or another, but, in general, they all had some kind of gifts. Except, to them, since EVERYONE already had some kinda gift, they weren't really considered special at all. Just a skill, the way some people can draw, while others have perfect pitch.

Okay, so then the First gifts, as the abilities of the travelers (the ones from the Granolith, keep up!) had been called, were different. There were five gifts, one for each planet (Maybe that was why the Zamornene Galaxy was chosen, but no promises. Just speculation.) The five gifts were Creation, Seer-sight, Shape shifting, Mind Touch, and Time Treading. (I'll explain more after the history lesson, but I HATE history, so let's get this first part over with, okay?)

Now, these gifts were far stronger than the original gifts, with a greater capacity for both good ….and evil.

We're talking about some serious potential for major consequences. But the First People taught them not only the way to control and use their gifts, but how to know when _not to_. They taught their descendants how to see the pattern, the weave of life and balance that protected all of the life in the entire universe (If I hear even one Star Wars "May the force be with you" joke, I swear I'll stop right here. I mean it!)

So, anyway, that was the job of the First People. To come to a planet, or in this case, five planets, when they were on the brink of evolution, to guide them into peace and prosperity, to protect the balance of the whole universe. Like a parent who watches as their child learns to walk, and then run, and then has to try to teach the child to know when walking is a better idea.

Anyway…

Each planet's people came to predominantly inherit one of the First gifts. It wasn't impossible for a child to be born with more than one gift, but it was kinda unusual. So, the planets thrived, becoming centers of art, music, learning, and, in time, technology.

Major technology.

Like, travel at the speed of light, clone themselves, and turn off gravity with a light switch technology. In time, the planet's capital cities became home to great universities, among them, on every planet, would be a "First University" (yes, I sure it's more eloquent in their language, but I don't actually speak their language. Gimme a break.) where children from any planet born with another planet's predominant skill came to learn to use it. They weren't forced to become citizens of that planet, but most came to choose to do so. Travel and communication between the planets was easy. It wasn't like it was a matter of losing one's friends and families forever. Many even returned to their original planets, as skilled ambassadors.

And so the gifts of each planet benefitted the whole galaxy.

So, to recap:

The peoples of the Zamornene Galaxy embraced the First's Teachings, and the five planets, Antar, Kerzon, Torridor, Calaxis, and Brynth flourished.

Sounds great huh?

But have you ever been told a bedtime story without any drama, any evil?

No?

That's cause life just isn't like that. Not here on earth, and definitely not in the Zamornene Galaxy.

So here's where the story starts to get darker. If you get squeamish, skip ahead, I guess.

Still here?

Yeah, I figured. Curiosity killed the cat, and all that jazz.

Like I was saying, the five planets were experiencing a cultural renaissance, embracing art, music, technology, and knowledge out the wazoo. Everyone loved and respected one another, yada yada yada.

But in time, everything changes.

Eventually, some planets came to covet what the others had, and eventually, to fear the gifts of the other planets.

This mostly came about because of a really bad dude, Zirad. Granted, he wasn't solely responsible for all that happened. But he whispered a lot of rumors into the right peoples' ears, turned friends against each other, played families against their neighbors. And in time, he was ready to make his move.

Brynth was the first planet targeted. Time Treading, was, in a lot of ways the most powerful of the five gifts. Treaders, as they were called, could see forwards and back, and, though it was forbidden, the most powerful could change the events of the past to create the future they desired. A gift that strong was rare among the Brynthians (I know, I know, totally lame, but I didn't come up with the name. Geez….), but the other planets came to doubt their honesty, reaching a point where any misfortune that befell the other planets came to be blamed upon them (think Salem Witch Trials). At last, a great holocaust came, and Brynth was invaded, the planet's Treaders, their most gifted people, were slaughtered as heretics and traitors in the name of the pattern.

Now, here's the worst part.

Zirad, King of Antar, led the attack. The other planets overlooked the obvious advantages Antar came to gain by the attack on Brynth, choosing instead to applaud Antar's "worthy cause to reclaim the true people of Brynth."

By that, of course, Zirad meant anyone who bore only the original gifts, and not the ability to time tread. The other planets likewise turned on any Treaders begging sanctuary on their planet. Within one earth month, all the treaders of the Zamornene Galaxy had been killed, and laws were passed that any child born bearing the gift of Time Treading was to be killed on sight.

Sick, I know. But it got worse.

See, it's like watching on the playground when someone gets bullied. You're afraid to try and stop it, right, because it'll maybe make you a target, too. The problem with that scenario is that eventually, everyone who turns a blind eye to something like that will _become_ a target.

So, in time, Antar came to do the same thing to all the other planets, first the creators on Zamor, then the Mind Aware of Torridor. Only the gifted of Calaxis were spared, if you want to call it that. The Shape Shifters of Calaxis were given a choice. Swear fealty to Antar, and Zirad, the High King of the Zamornene Galaxy (nooo, no benefit to Antar….), or be destroyed. And so, Calaxis swore, and their gifted were bound, enslaved, and destined to become the tools and toys of Antar.

Based on what I've told you before, are certain events starting to make more sense now?

That is, I mean, if anything I had told you had been true, of course.

But it's not.

It's just a story.

And sooo, I'll just hurry up and finish now.

So the First gifts, all but that of seer-sight and shape-shifting, became lost in the history of the five planets. Hundreds of years went by. Except, every once in a while, one of the forbidden gifts would emerge, and then the child would be killed. And every shape-shifter born was dutifully turned over to the King of Antar, who became known, of all things, as the Keeper of the peace.

But in time even Antar and Calaxis came to almost entirely lose their gifts, with fewer and fewer children born every year, until the few shifters born came to be highly sought after, used in the most dangerous tasks in the name of the Antarian Kings, and the few remaining Antarian Seers came to be almost worshipped as Great Prophets.

It was like the pattern, the gifts themselves, couldn't survive without each another.

But all this happened so long ago.

How could it even matter to us, here, and now?


	14. Silver Strands Chapters 1 & 2

Silver Stands, Chapters 1 & 2: The cost of Secrets.

Roswell is not, not, not, NOT MINE. But this little plot twist mostly is. Love my readers. Sorry for the long lapse between updates, but my operating system crashed and I literally had to start all freaking over. Not fun.

Antar—Earth Year 1906

Vilandra raced towards the innermost rooms of the palace, stumbling over her skirts, breathless, gasping, tears running down her face.

She did her best to ignore the warring emotions inside her chest.

Grief, horror, guilt.

Zan, Avaliera, Rath….. They were all dead.

And it was her fault.

She could hear the sounds of pursuit behind her. They couldn't possibly know her goal; they were simply pursuing her on Khivar's command. Khivar, who said he had loved her, who had told her in secret the bloody past of her planet, who had begged her with tears in his eyes to help him right wrongs centuries old.

Khivar who had murdered her brother, her sister-in-law, and her fiancé, all in one fell swoop. Avaliera, nearly a year younger than she, herself, who had told her in secret confidence only that morning that not only had the palace physicians confirmed that she was pregnant, but that it was twins. She had told Khivar, making him promise that nothing was to befall her sister-in-law, that she was to be handled as carefully as possible during the transition.

He had killed her first. In her mind's eye, Vilandra could still see Ava's body falling, her hands protectively cradling her abdomen.

Zan had simply looked at him, that eerie call falling over him, as Khivar had turned to him. She herself had been screaming in horror. At that moment, with his wife's body before him, she could see the two sides of her brother as never before. The man and the king.

The man inside him was screaming obscenities, ready to destroy the entire world if that was what his revenge required.

But the King inside him was stronger. The king inside him was willing to yield, to prevent further bloodshed.

Khivar hadn't given him the choice.

Rath had fought his way through only a moment later, furious movement and action, the storm that was the protector, the greatest general in Antarian history.

She had watched something in his eyes break when he had seen Ava and Zan's bodies.

Zan, who had been not only his best friend since childhood, but his King.

And Ava, who though only his cousin, had been his only remaining kin. She had been the little sister fate had never afforded him.

For the first time in perhaps his entire life, Rath had simply stood still.

"Vilandra, what….what have you done?" He had whispered brokenly.

And then he, too, was dead.

Vilandra knew at that point she had fainted.

Waking up later, in her own room she had picked up the letter on her pillow.

The writing was as familiar as her own.

"Someday, you will understand."

She could hear the sounds of searcher's throughout the palace. She knew what they were looking for.

The Granolith.

She had fled, then, through the same secret passage she had once used to visit her lover, to the heart of the palace, the oldest part, where the Antarian Kings had long safeguarded the most prized position of the Five Worlds.

The Granolith.

She could still remember her brother arguing that day with Rath, as she hid breathlessly in the shadows.

Rath hadn't understood how Zan could have chosen Earth, a feral planet light years from Antar, as the secret destination of the Granolith, should the need ever arise.

But he had remained adamant. And for once, even she respected her brother's decision. And she hadn't told Khivar.

Breaking into the room, she began entering the command sequence she had heard Zan give to Rath, that long ago day. It had never occurred to them that neither one or nor the other would make it to the Granolith chamber.

"Vilandra! Don't make me kill you!" a strong, masculine voice cried.

She closed her eyes. Even now, his voice tied her in knots.

"Why did you kill Ava?" She asked without turning around, her hand hovering over the final button. The command sequence was irreversible, the Granolith itself untraceable. To retrieve it, not just one of their people, but one bearing a rare First Power would have to go to earth and activate it.

"She was pregnant with two potential heirs to the throne, Lana." He replied. "You knew I could never let those children be born. You must have known!"

She shook her head, tears leaking from her eyes. Perhaps she had known, deep down perhaps that was why she had never told him of this place, this last desperate plan of her brother's.

She pushed the command button even as Khivar fired at her.

He caught her as she fell, his beloved face cruel and kind in some impossible way.

"Lana…."

"Zan's children may never sit on the Antarian throne." she whispered weakly, "But now….

Neither will yours."

Antar- -Earth Year 1907

The exiled Dowager Queen Theadra of Antar stood in the darkened chamber. As ever, her posture was perfect, her clothing meticulous. Even after all that had happened, the people were too loyal to her for Khivar to mistreat her. Even before her marriage, and subsequent ascent to the throne as the queen of Antar, she had been an icon to her people. People born with Seer-sight, the ability to look forward, were rare and treasured. They were the keepers of the pattern, the protectors of the balance between the different races on Antar and the planet itself. She was a precious, rare and gifted.

And cursed, she thought, silent tears drifting down her face from her sightless eyes. Like all Seers, she was born blind to the physical world around her, seeing it only in her visions. Her gift required touch, coming and going at will, capricious and cruel and demanding and beautiful. It had long been her greatest source of pain, that she, with all her gifts and powers, could not command the future, could not force a vision that could have stopped all this madness, this pain and death.

Death. Always, death eluded her sight. Death itself was a type of darkness devoid of light, color, shape. She could make no sense of visions of death.

Not even of her own children

Her fingers brushed over the features of her first born.

Zan.

She had never seen his face clearly, not in the hundreds of visions she had in the course of his life. Her visions were always of the future, of what could be, might be. She was told his hair was "sun spun" her people's word for that true metallic gold hue preeminent in her husband's line. Her thoughts trailed back to the vision she'd had twenty-three years ago. A small, dark haired child on a strange grassy lawn holding a little feathered animal in his hand.

No matter how many times her ladies had assured her otherwise, she had from that day on thought of her firstborn as dark haired.

She moved on to the next marble slab. Avaliera Tessawyn. Her fingers traced the name carved into the front of the stone.

All four of the names were here, carved into this tomb, this vulgar display Khivar insisted on putting up. In a way, she supposed his hands were tied. Rumours ran rampant, even a year after the coup, rumors' that the "Royal Four" as they were now being called, were still alive, somewhere, in secret. Planning, waiting for the right moment to strike back.

Instead of releasing her children's bodies into the sea, where they could re-join the pattern, he had trapped their souls, here, in this marble tomb. Using alien technology that should never have been allowed on Antar, he preserved their bodies, trapping their souls in a death like slumber she, but no other, could feel.

Her fingers traced over the face of the girl who had, at nineteen, been not only her daughter in law, but her distant cousin. Ava had been the last of the Tessawyn line, a line that had long been the final refuge of the Seer-Sight. The hopes that one of Theadra's future children would be born a Seer, as Theadra was, were crushed at the birth of her daughter, when the physicians had insisted that to bear another child would risk her life.

Her daughter, Vilandra.

She had been told her daughter was possibly the most beautiful woman on the planet, perhaps among all five. She alone knew what Vilandra had hid so desparately behind her beauty. What she feared anyone, especially her own family, discovering.

Vilandra had been Mind Aware.

There had always been a chance one of her children would be born, not a seer, but possessed of one of the forbidden gifts. And the moment Vilandra had been born, Theadra had sensed the truth. In fear for her daughter's life, she had insisted on Vilandra being surrounded by only the most shallow, unobservant, self-centered ladies she could find.

It had broken her heart to think of those vapid women raising her daughter, influencing her thoughts and actions, but the risk of anyone with an actual mind discovering her daughter's secret was too great. And the one time she herself had witnesses her daughter using her gift she had made it a point to frighten her so badly that Vilandra had locked a whole portion of herself deep inside where no one could touch it. And so Vilandra grew up, beautiful, shallow, vain and self important.

But alive. And until a year ago, Theadra had considered the loss acceptable in the name of her child's life.

Even Seer's were fallible.

She came at last to the final body.

Rath had been a second son to her, showing all the passion, the energy Zan had denied himself. She had hoped he would be able to unlock that hidden part of Vilandra. She had sensed he could be strong enough to deal with Vilandra's secret, that, should he give his heart to someone, it would be irrevocable, that he would move entire worlds to protect the one he loved. There was a kind of wild, restless strength in Rath, a sense that he had always been searching, for what, even he hadn't known.

Perhaps, in the end, it would be Rath who would save them all.

And Khivar's cruel treatment of her children, the desecration of their bodies, would be his downfall.


End file.
